How Pope Francis utilized football as a messenger of peace.

 

His predecessor, Pope Benedict, preferred classical music. However, Pope Francis was an Argentine, and so his first love was football. According to him, ‘it is the most beautiful game’. He saw this game not only as a means of entertainment, but also as a way to spread the message of education and peace.

Francis, a son of Argentina, has welcomed the world’s biggest football stars to the Vatican. From Lionel Messi and the late Diego Maradona to stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Buffon, he was also on the list. He has signed many balls and jerseys.

As a child, he used to play with a cloth ball on the streets of Buenos Aires. He said, ‘I was not the best player, I had both my legs bent’. But he played mostly as a goalkeeper. In his words, ‘I learned from this that danger can come from any direction, you have to be ready for it’.

His favorite club was San Lorenzo, where he used to go and watch games with his father. “It was romantic football,” he said. He remained a member of the club even after becoming pope. However, there was some controversy when he received a membership from rival Boca Juniors as part of an educational deal with the Vatican.

Francis kept track of the club’s games through a Swiss guard. He would leave the results and league tables on the pope’s desk every week.

The pope did not see football as just a game. He believed that football could be a means of education and a means of conveying a message of peace, although he was not unaware of the business and corruption behind it.

In 2014, he initiated an ‘interfaith match for peace’ at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. In 2019, he said, ‘Many say that football is the most beautiful game in the world. I think so too.’ In 2013, he reminded the national teams of Italy and Argentina of their social responsibility. He said, ‘We must respect the game without getting carried away by business.’ In his words, ‘Religion or football — both are about working for something bigger than yourself.’

In a scene in Netflix’s popular movie ‘The Two Popes’, Pope Benedict and then Cardinal Bergoglio are seen watching the 2014 World Cup final. Although Francis actually stopped watching TV in 1990.

Even though the World Cup was held in Argentina in 1978, he did not say anything about it. Because the country was under dictatorship at the time, and he was the leader of the clergy at the time.

However, in his autobiography published in 2024, he wrote an entire chapter about Diego Maradona. He wrote, ‘A few years ago, Maradona came to the Vatican. I jokingly asked him, ‘So, which hand is to blame?’

He praised Maradona but said, ‘Great as a player, but a failure as a human being.’ On the other hand, he referred to Messi as ‘a gentleman.’

However, he did not take sides. According to him, Pele was ‘a man with a big heart’. That is why he prefers Pele’s name as a player.

Before the France-Argentina final in 2022, he said, ‘Whoever wins, let him celebrate with humility’. For Pope Francis, football was a reflection of life — where the message of unity, responsibility and peace was captured at the same time.