Members of the Vatican Cricket Club travelled to east London to take on a team made up of people from several faiths

St Peter’s took part in a one-day tournament at Walthamstow Cricket Club in Greenway Avenue for the fourth Light of Faith Tour against East London Multi-Faith Team and Mount Cricket Club.

It was the second trip to the area for the team, made up of priests and seminarians, after their first tournament in Walthamstow in September 2016.

Tracy Brabin, MP for Batley and Spen, attended the event on Tuesday, July 10, to cheer on Mount CC, which is based in Batley, Yorkshire.

Ms Brabin, a former actress on Coronation Street, Eastenders and Casualty, was elected in October 2016 after the murder of Jo Cox.

The tournament was also supported by John McCarthy, former Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See and founder of the Vatican (St Peters) CC.

Arfan Akram, East London Cricket co-ordinator, said it was encouraging to see Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim players work together for a common goal.

He said: “The multi-faith team is a representation of the whole community; we had players from five different faiths.

“We had a lot of fun and there were powerful conversations that came up focusing on our differences and what we have in common.

“It was unbelievable to have the Vatican Cricket Team come to east London and it really does get the community together.”

Muslim Aid CEO Jehangir Malik, who attended the event, added: “If you look back in history, sport has played an enormous role in changing society and bringing communities together so it's very important to be here today and a privilege to meet our friends from the Vatican and other religions."

The day ended with Mount CC taking home the Sir John Major Friendship Cup after beating St Peter’s by 14 runs.

But the Vatican team did not leave empty handed, having beat East London Multi-Faith team by more than 50 runs.

Pope Francis sent a message to the organisers saying he prays such events will “contribute to the promotion of peace and concord because the language of sport is universal”.

The club’s overseas trip also included games against a team of MPs and the Royal Household CC at Windsor Castle and a visit to a young offenders’ prison unit where they celebrated mass and played a match.

As well as their sporting fixtures, the Vatican team visited a mosque, a Sikh gurdwara, a Hindu temple and a synagogue in London.