(CNN) — Five NBA players visited the Vatican on Monday to discuss social and economic injustice with Pope Francis.
According to the NBPA — the league’s players association — the meeting took place in the papal library of the Apostolic Palace where the players spoke about their efforts to address inequality in their communities.
The players present were Jonathan Isaac, Sterling Brown, Marco Belinelli, Kyle Korver and Anthony Tolliver.
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“Today’s meeting was an incredible experience,” said Tolliver.
“With the Pope’s support and blessing, we are excited to head into this next season reinvigorated to keep pushing for change and bringing our communities together.”
The meeting comes in a year when athletes in the Unites States and around the world have protested against social injustice.
In the NBA last season, as with many sports leagues, players took a knee before games and wore the Black Lives Matter slogan on jerseys.
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“Looking at the problems in society and especially those of social justice, sport can be a good means of resolving them,” Pope Francis said during the meeting.
“We should always remember this because your message is the goodwill of sports but also working together as a team, the work as a community and may this be the seed of beauty and of a shared development towards justice.”
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