Pope Francis on Saturday remembered Pelè on the first anniversary of the death at 82 of the Brazilian ace many rate the greatest footballer ever. Francis cited St Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians saying it traced a “marvelous parallel between the athlete’s efforts in the stadium and Christian life”.
Hailing the many charity achievements of ‘O Rei’, the Argentine pontiff and fan of Pelé’s only real rival Diego Maradona added, according to Vatican News: “many of the virtures needed to practise a sporting activity, such as perseverance, constancy and temperance, are part of the Christian virtues too. “Further, sport when it is practise well is an opportunity to strengthen the ties of true friendship between the men and women who practise it, but also between peoples, in the international competitions in the various sporting disciplines.” Francis said Pelé was “without doubt an athlete who showed these positive characteristics of sport in his life.” He said the memory of arguably soccer’s greatest player “remains indelible in the minds of many and encourages the new generations to look to sport as a means to boost the bonds of unity between all”. A gigantic number 10 Brazil shirt was placed on Rio’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue to mark the anniversary.
