The World Cup arrived Jan. 4, 2023, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján in Argentina. / Credit: Luján Shrine
ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 6, 2023 / 17:00 pm (CNA).
The World Cup won by the Argentine soccer team arrived Wednesday at the Basilica of Ou… […]
Sister Marija Zrno (on the left) and members of her community of nuns supporting Croatia at the 2022 World Cup. / Credit: Courtesy of Sister Marija Zrno
ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 21, 2022 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
Croatian nun Marija Zrno, a Daughter of Ch… […]
Lionel Messi / Credit: Hossein Zohrevand / Tasnim News Agency (CC BY 4.0)
CNA Newsroom, Dec 19, 2022 / 12:45 pm (CNA).
After Argentina’s victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a promise made by soccer superstar Lionel Messi to the Virgin Mary … […]
Father Charbel Mhanna offers Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha, Qatar. / Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church
Rome Newsroom, Nov 29, 2022 / 06:09 am (CNA).
When Father Charbel Mhanna needs to acquire altar wine for Mass, he must use a sp… […]
Pope Francis holds a soccer ball in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience on Aug. 26, 2015. L’Osservatore Romano.
Rome Newsroom, Nov 23, 2022 / 03:48 am (CNA).
Pope Francis gave a shoutout to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar at the end of his weekly audience on Wednesday.
Speaking to a crowd of people from around the world Nov. 23, the pope expressed his hope the international soccer competition would foster fraternity and peace.
“I wish to send my greetings to the players, fans and spectators who are following, from various continents, the World Cup, which is being played in Qatar,” he said in St. Peter’s Square.
“May this important event,” he continued, “be an occasion of encounter and harmony among nations, fostering fraternity and peace among peoples.”
Pope Francis added to his appeal for peace, asking for prayers for an end to all conflicts, especially the conflict in Ukraine.
He highlighted the upcoming anniversary, Nov. 26, of Holodomor, also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, a man-made famine that took place in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933.
Francis called Holodomor a “terrible genocide” and an “extermination by starvation,” which was artificially caused by Joseph Stalin.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is being played in the State of Qatar, an emirate on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18.
The choice of Qatar as host country for the men’s soccer tournament has been criticized due to conditions in the country, including the situation of Christians.
Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, who is the current sports commissioner of the German Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement published Nov. 17 that he did not want to give soccer fans “a bad conscience,” even if people were “asking how it came about that Qatar, of all places, was chosen by FIFA as the host country 12 years ago.”
“Non-Islamic religions, including Christianity, which are strongly represented among migrant workers, are granted freedom only to a limited extent,” the German prelate said.
Oster also said the role of women was “set back” and sexual minorities were prosecuted.
Bishop Stefan Oster / Diocese of Passau
CNA Newsroom, Nov 17, 2022 / 08:20 am (CNA).
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the “sports bishop” of the German Bishops’ Conference on Thursday called for a critical look at conditions in the competi… […]
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