The beautiful game: Pope Francis’ passion for football

His predecessor loved Mozart, but Pope Francis’s passion was football, for him “the most beautiful game” and also a vehicle to educate and spread peace.

From Argentine compatriots Lionel Messi and the late Diego Maradona to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gianluigi Buffon, Francis received the greatest stars of football at the Vatican, signing dozens of shirts and balls from around the world.

He often recounted playing as a young boy on the streets of Buenos Aires, using a ball made of rags.

While admitting he was “not among the best” and that “he had two left feet”, he often played as goalkeeper, which he said was a good way of learning how to respond to “dangers that could arrive from anywhere”.

His love of football was inseparable from his loyalty to the San Lorenzo club in Buenos Aires, where he went to watch matches with his father and brothers. “It was romantic football,” he recalled.

He maintained his membership even after becoming Pope – and caused a minor uproar when he received a membership card from rivals Boca Juniors as part of a Vatican educational partnership.

Francis kept up to date with the club’s progress thanks to one of the Vatican’s Swiss Guards, who would leave results and league tables on his desk.

Football is often compared to a religion for its fans, and Francis held numerous giant masses in football stadiums during trips abroad.

French Bishop Emmanuel Gobilliard, the Vatican delegate for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said he understood the crucial role played by football.

“Whether you are an amateur or professional footballer, whether you like to watch it on television, it makes no difference: this sport is part of people’s lives,” he told AFP.

But it was not just an end in itself – Francis, an Argentinian Jesuit, also saw football as a way of spreading peace and education, despite the money and corruption in some of its management.

In 2014, the Olympic stadium in Rome hosted an “inter-religious match” for peace at his initiative.

“Many say that football is the most beautiful game in the world. I think so too,” Francis declared in 2019.

As early as 2013, addressing the Italian and Argentine teams, Francis reminded players of their “social responsibilities” and warned against the excesses of “business” football.

Agencies