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VATICAN CITY “Thank you for the poor.” It was what Maradona said about the other most famous Argentine, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The news of the death of the Pibe de Oro reached Santa Marta in the afternoon and the Pope remembered it with affection, with a prayer. Five years ago Diego Armando Maradona had come to Rome to get to know him better. He wanted to know if Francesco was really what the newspapers and television networks described him, if he was as easy as a street priest, or if in the meantime he had taken the mark of the sovereign, with the court and everything else. Maradona had stayed with him for an abundant quarter of an hour, time to exchange a few words, remember the epic of San Lorenzo, the Buenos Aires soccer team supported by Bergoglio since he was a child.
AMBASSADOR
Dieguito had left the Vatican with a rosary in hand, his heart relieved, a blessing in his pocket, and the conviction that it was certainly right to do his best for the Scholas Occurrentes and become an ambassador for underprivileged children, as Bergoglio requested. . To think that years ago Dieguito had also had an encounter with another Pope, John Paul II, but it had not aroused so much enthusiasm. He talked about it openly. He also had the idea of a Vatican “with golden roofs” and so cold all around.
Maradona, Valdano crying during the direct Champions
What, instead, had fallen that barrier and those prejudices, collapsed with Francesco who had become “my friend”; So when he saw him again the following year, he embraced him with such enthusiasm that he astonished those present, at the Scholas Occurrentes headquarters in Trastevere, in the Vatican complex of San Calisto. The poor, those who have nothing to eat in the most difficult neighborhoods of Latin American metropolises, acted as a litmus test for the action of a Church that finally, in the eyes of Diego Armando, was finally heading in the right direction. And it was this invisible link between the soccer champion and the Pope of the end of the world that brought him back to faith, not being so distant.
«I would very much like to thank Francesco for all the affection he gives me – Maradona had confessed – He is a phenomenon, and I know he will do something for the boys. We have a fantastic Pope. We both talked about many things, about the commitment of the players to come together and do something for the children who do not eat in many parts of the world. And we fully agreed, although we are aware that it will take a long time. Today I can say that I am a supporter of Francisco. The first follower of Francesco is me ». After all, they were two intersecting dreams, a bit like scoring a goal. Regarding the meeting with the Pope, Maradona had also added: «He treats me like a brother and treats everyone the same. Treat everyone the same: kiss everyone, hug everyone. He has little time available, he works a lot but he always finds time for everyone ».
TRAVEL
Maradona had an obsession: “We have to do something for children who do not eat in many parts of the world.” His regret was that he couldn’t help everyone. “There are children who continue playing soccer, who need to buy boots, who do not have a field to play. As he told it, perhaps he saw himself as a child with the same problems, with an empty stomach, a lot of energy in his legs, and the dream of becoming a champion. Now the prayers of Pope Bergoglio will accompany him on this journey, the last, unexpected for a match this time without end.
Last updated: 07:39
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