THE Pope Francis He died at the age of 88, immersing sadness throughout the Catholic Church. Jorge Mario Bergolio as his full name was weak like all Argentinean weakness in football, with himself being a supporter of Lorenzo.
Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and could not love football. He didn’t even choose to support one of the country’s “big” teams such as Boca Junior or River Plate, Antavitou became Lorenzo!
His connection to the club may be likely to be due to the strong ties of the group with the Catholic Church, with Pope Francis, even as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, taking care to highlight sports as a means of unity and peace, pointing to his role!
According to him, the values of sport, but also the elements that make up him, such as discipline, self -denial, cooperation and faith, are the foundations of human coexistence.
The relationship with Maradona
Pope Francis met with many great football stars, such as Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Pele and Diego Maradona, with the latter being a special case.
This is because the Pope had a particular weakness in Maradona, who had even given an Argentine jersey by number 10 to him.
“On the pitch he was a poet, a great champion who gave joy to millions of people, both in Argentina and Napoli. But he was also a very fragile man. I have a personal memory associated with the 1986 World Cup, what Argentina conquered Maradona.
I was in Frankfurt, it was a difficult time for me, I learned the language and I was collecting material for my dissertation. I couldn’t see the final and learned about Argentina’s victory over Germany the next day, when a Japanese student wrote “Viva L’Argentina” on the table during the German lesson.
I remember this, personally, as a victory against loneliness, because I had no one to share the joy of this athletic victory. Loneliness makes you feel alone, while what makes joy beautiful is the ability to share it. When I learned about Maradona’s death, I prayed for him and sent a rosary to his family with some personal words of consolation, “he said in an interview about Maradona, the Chief of the Argentinean National Argentine who won the World Cup in 1987.
The reason he didn’t see matches on TV
In 2023, San Lorenzo won the Copa Libertadores, and a few days later a delegation of the club traveled to the Vatican with the trophy, which was closely seen by the head of the Roman Catholic Church. As the team’s coach had argued, describing the visit: “One of his league told me that he got up around 4am to find out the result of the final.”
The reason is about an oath he gave to Our Lady of Karmilis, and while he was still a cardinal.
He was none other than never to see a game on television again, with him probably listening to the races on the radio!
It is worth noting that after the news of his death, the Italian Football Federation announced that all games on Monday (21/4/25) were canceled as a sign of mourning.