Patrick Kelly is a Jesuit priest of the Midwest Province and associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. Prior to joining Detroit Mercy in 2021, Fr. Kelly taught in the Theology and Religious Studies department at Seattle University for 13 years. His most recent book is Play, Sport and Spirit (Paulist Press, 2023). Robert K. Johnston of Fuller Theological Seminary says about the book: “We play ‘for its own sake,’ and yet play also contributes to our flourishing. In Play, Sport, and Spirit, Patrick Kelly masterfully unpacks this paradox, drawing in particular on his rich Catholic tradition, including Ignatian spirituality.” Fr. Kelly’s first book was Catholic Perspectives on Sports: From Medieval to Modern Times (Paulist Press, 2012). In addition to numerous academic articles and book chapters about sport, theology and spirituality, he edited the book Youth Sport and Spirituality: Catholic Perspectives (University of Notre Dame Press, 2015) and a special issue of the journal Religion and Society titled “Catholics and Sport in a Global Context” (2019). Fr. Kelly’s writings led him to be invited to work in collaboration with Vatican offices about the topic of sport, including helping to revise the first-ever document published by the Catholic Church about sports, “Giving the Best of Yourself,” June 2018.