With the World Cup off to a kick-start yesterday, many FIFA soccer fans have been left wondering who Pope Francis will be hoping to win.
Even though the Argentinean pontiff is a well-known fan of the Buenos Aires soccer club, he has vowed to remain neutral throughout the tournament.
Instead of concentrating his prayers on a certain team, Francis will be praying for the World Cup to promote solidarity and teamwork and not ferment racism, hatred, and greed. He expressed his wishes in this video (which is unfortunately in Portuguese).
Yesterday, he tweeted:
I wish everyone a wonderful World Cup, played in a spirit of true fraternity.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) June 12, 2014
A way we can promote goodness to come from the World Cup—other than praying that the U.S. wins against Ghana on Monday—is to help Catholic Relief Services with their #KickPoverty campaign.
And even though he’s said he’ll be neutral, I’m sure Francis will say a few private prayers for Argentina.
