Pope Francis loved football, San Lorenzo and the sports power to unite

Buenos Aires, April 22 (AP) Pope Francis’s passion for football was clear throughout his entire pontificate. He was a lifelong supporter of the Argentine club San Lorenzo and agrees with those who describe football as the most beautiful game in the world. But Francis, who died on Monday at 88, also turned to the sport for anecdotes about camaraderie, community and teamwork in an increasingly individualistic society. ‘Football is a team sport. You can’t have fun alone, ‘the pope told a crowd of Italian youth, footballers and coaches in the Vatican in 2019. “And if lived like that, it can be good for your thoughts and your heart in a society that is exacerbated by subjectivism.” Like most Argentine children, young Jorge Mario Bergoglio grew up with football. He played hours with friends on sidewalks or dusty stands known as “potteros” in his native Flores in Buenos Aires. According to his own assessment, he was not so good. In his recently published autobiography “Hope”, Francis said his skills were so weak that he was nicknamed “hard foot”. Like many in his family, he became a proponent of San Lorenzo, a club founded in 1908 by Priest Lorenzo Massa. As a boy, he became fascinated by the colorful playing style of the team that won the local title in 1946. Until his death, he remembers the whole series. San Lorenzo won its first Copa Libertadores, the top club tournament in South America, in 2014 – a year after becoming pope. The board’s board and a group of players took the trophy to the Vatican. Later, clubs of clubs decided to call their planned future stadium to Pope Francis, who until the end to the club as a member no. 88.235 paid. The greatest of all time? In an interview with Italy’s Rai television in 2023, Francis considered the debate on who is the greatest footballer of all time. Asked to choose between his countrymen Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, the winners of the world championships from different generations, Francis’s answer was unexpected. “I’ll add a third,” he said. “Pelé.” He met the Brazilian Great, a dedicated Catholic and three times World Cup winner, before being elected Pope. Francis later met Messi and Maradona in the Vatican as Pontiff. “Maradona, as a player, was wonderful. But as a man he failed,” Francis said of the winner of the 1986 World Cup, who struggled with cocaine use and health issues and died at 60 in 2020. Maradona was celebrated by people who did not help him, added the pope. He described Messi, who lifted the World Cup trophy in 2022, as “very correct” and a lord. “But for me, among the three, is the big Lord Pelé,” the Pope said. In a message read to Pelé in Rio de Janeiro during a tribute a year after his death in 2022, Francis said: “Many of the virtues needed to perform a sports activity, such as perseverance, stability and temperament, are also part of Christian virtues. The World Cup final he did not watch, although he was a big football fan, Francis saw no games on television. He said he avoided watching TV completely because of a promise he made to the virgin of Carmen in 1990. The radio became his resources to stay up to date and listen to football matches until he moved to Rome. After being in the Vatican, members of the Swiss guard, who took care of his security, informed him of the outcome of San Lorenzo and Argentina. That’s how he found out that Argentina won their third World Cup title in Qatar after a penalty against France. While he was enthusiastic about the game, he spoke against fanatism and violence that sometimes overshadowed it. He called players at top level to show humility and always remember their origin. “Don’t forget where you come from. Those stands on the outskirts, that place for prayer, that little club, ‘he said in the 2019 speech. “I hope that you can always feel the gratitude for your story, made of sacrifice, victories and battles,” Francis added. ‘To be good in life. This is the victory for all of us. ‘ (AP) PDS PDS first published: 22 Apr 2025, 03:27 PM IST