Shortly after the Pope had apologized to the Jewish
People for the treatment of Jews by the Catholic
Church over the years, Ariel Sharon, the Prime
Minister of Israel, sent a proposal to the College of
Cardinals for a friendly game of golf, to be played
between the two leaders or their representatives to
demonstrate the friendship and ecumenical spirit
shared by the Catholics and the Jews.
The Pope then met with his College of Cardinals to
discuss the proposal.
"Your Holiness," said one of the Cardinals, "Mr.
Sharon wants to challenge you to a game of golf, presumably to
show that you are too old and unable to compete. I am
afraid that this would tarnish our image in the world"
The Pope thought about this and, since he had never
held a golf club in his life, asked, "Don't we have a
Cardinal to represent me?"
"None who plays golf very well," a Cardinal replied.
"But," he added, "there is a man named Jack Nicklaus,
an American golfer, who is a devout Catholic. We can
offer to make him a Cardinal and then ask him to play
Mr. Sharon as your personal representative. In
addition to showing our spirit of cooperation, we
shall also win the match."
Everyone agreed that this was a great idea. The call
was made. Of course, Nicklaus was honoured, and he
agreed to play as a representative of the Pope.
The day after the match, Nicklaus reported to the
Vatican to inform the Pope of the result. "This is
Cardinal Nicklaus. I have some good news and some bad
news, Holiness," said the golfer.
"Tell me the good news, Cardinal Nicklaus," said the Pope.
"Well, Your Holiness, I don't like to brag, but even
though I have played some pretty terrific rounds of
golf in my life, this was the best I have ever played,
by far. I must have been inspired from above. My
drives were long and true, my irons were accurate and
purposeful, and my putting was perfect. With all due
respect, my play was truly miraculous."
"How can there be bad news?" the Pope asked.
Nicklaus sighed, "I lost by three strokes to Rabbi Tiger Woods."
