“The most beautiful sport in the world”: Pope Francis and his passion for football

During the 12 years of pontificate, Pope Francis has never hidden his passion for football. In addition to being his favorite sport, he believed that sport could be a carrier of peace and education. Proof of the affection and respect for the world of football by the deceased religious leader on Monday (21), the Serie A of the Italian championship suspended today’s round.

During the 12 years of pontificate, Pope Francis has never hidden his passion for football. In addition to being his favorite sport, he believed that sport could be a carrier of peace and education. Proof of the affection and respect for the world of football by the deceased religious leader on Monday (21), the Serie A of the Italian championship suspended today’s round.

Of the compatriots Messi and Maradona, crossing the Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimović and the Italian Gianluigi Buffon, the Pope personally received large football stars in the Vatican and shirts and balls of the four corners of the world were presented. Among these, one signed by Pelé in 2014 during a visit by President Dilma Rousseff in the Vatican.

From an early age, Jorge Bergoglio had a heart of the heart: Argentine San Lorenzo. With his father and his brothers, he saw the games at the Viejo Gasometer Stadium in Buenos Aires – a tradition that he abandoned only when he took the archbishop’s position in the capital in 1998. On the other hand, he remained partner of the club and even prayed to the centenary mass of San Lorenzo in 2008.

As a sign of his destination, the various travels of Francisco all over the world brought him back to the stadiums for the celebration of the giant masses. On several occasions, the Pope has received honors from fans for the cities where he passed. In 2023, during his visit to Marseille in the south of France, the fans of the Olympique de Marseille Club extended a great flag with the face of Jorge Bergoglio at the Orange Vélodrome stadium.

Football as part of life

At the end of 2023, the Vatican head for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Emmanuel Gobiliard, described the Pope’s passion for football. “We are amateur or professionals, whom we like to look on television or in person, makes no difference: this sport is part of people’s lives. This is your vision,” he said, remembering “the brightness in Francisco’s gaze” when he spoke about it.

According to Gobiliard, Francisco’s appreciation was due to the similarities with religion, which “puts the collective in the foreground to overcome individual interest”. “We are at the service of something bigger than us, something that transcends us collectively and personally,” he said.

In fact, the Argentine Jesuit saw football as a practice well beyond fields, as a path to peace and education. In 2013, faced with the delegations of Italy and Argentina, the supreme pontiff convened the players to their “social responsibilities”, warning about football deviations.Commercial activity‘.

In 2014, the Olympic Stadium of Rome hosted an interreligious match for peace, thanks to an initiative led by Francis. “Many say that football is the most beautiful sport in the world. I also think of this,” he said in 2019.

Admiration for Pelé, criticism of Maradona

Between Maradona, Messi and Pelé, the Pope had a favorite. “The biggest Gentleman It is Pelé. A man with a big heart, “said the high pontiff, in an interview with the Italian station RaiIn 2023

Information about Maradona, in the same interview, Francisco praised his qualities as his player, “but as a man he failed,” he said. “He came to see me here in the first year of the pontificate and then he had the end badly,” he reiterated.

In his autobiography published in 2024, Jorge Bergoglio dedicated an entire chapter to the “hand of God” of Maradona at the 1986 World Cup. “When, a few years ago, I received it in the Vatican, I played with him: ‘So what is the hand of guilt?'” He writes at work.

The compatriot Messi also praised by the supreme pontiff: “Messi is very correct, he is a gentleman”.

Francisco’s passion for football was also brought to the big screen, with the film “The Two Papes”, by Fernando Meirelles, launched in 2019. In one of the scenes, Benedetto 16 and Francis see together the World Cup final among their countries of origin, Germany and Argentina. The scene, however, is purely imaginary because the Argentine Jesuit has not been watching television since 1990 by personal choice and German religious have always preferred music and literature.

On the other hand, before the final of the World Cup between France and Argentina, in Qatar, in 2022, the supreme pontiff made a request. Unable to hide his appreciation for “Albiceleste”, the head of the Catholic Church asked the victorious team to celebrate “humility”.

Source: Terra

Rose

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