“Many describe Football as the most beautiful game in the world- and for me it was”.
These were the words from the now late Pope Francis in his autobiography “Hope” released earlier this year. It was the first time a living Pope had released an autobiography and fitting that it would be such a trailblazer of the church to do so. Many people around the world are mourning the passing of Pope Francis, who took his last breaths on Easter Monday the 21st of April, 2025. He was known for his connection with the people, his work with the most marginalized which had an energetic focus on the plight of migrants and his wish to make a more inclusive and welcoming Catholic Church.
In Italy, all Serie A matches were immediately postponed Monday- a fitting gesture for the Argentinian Pope (of Italian ancestry) known in some circles also as the Football Pope.
Some months ago after reading a newspaper article which described the football fan side of the Pope and his love for the Argentinian team San Lorenzo De Almagro, I couldn’t help but think that this Argentinian Pope from Buenos Aires who loved football would probably think a platform dedicated to the use of football for good (and called Bonito) would probably come across pretty well. So I wrote him a letter explaining the platform and our future vision of it, linking to at the time our recent article on football as a tool for helping the plight of migrants featuring I Speak Football and asked him if he would give us an interview. Unfortunately his health turned for the worse this winter and I didn’t hear back, but I like to think if he would have stayed healthy he would have been up for the idea.
Earlier this month, the author of this article went on his usual football pilgrimage to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (a holy football site to me) and I took with me a copy of “Hope” to read in the eternal city. Much to my delight as I sat in my rented apartment in Della Vittoria, some kilometers north of the Vatican, I turned to Chapter 7 entitled “Playing over the Whole of His Earth”- a whole chapter dedicated to the beauty of Football.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, grew up in Buenos Aires and covers in this chapter his philosophy on why football can be so beautiful, his journey as a fan and also in a way his approach to grassroots football and sports in general which he describes as something that generally unites instead of divides.
“Playing is a right”, he starts off by saying on page 78 of the autobiography. “Playing involves everything, not just muscles-the whole personality in all of its dimensions, even those deeper aspects. When someone is really trying hard, people say: He is giving his soul to it”- “The ball than becomes not just a piece of equipment, but an instrument, a way of inviting real people to share true friendship”- this was how he saw football as a great tool to not be alone in a world that he saw as increasingly overemphasizing individuality and isolation.
He quotes the Protestant theologian Dorothee Sölle who when asked to explain what happiness is to a child,”responded – “ I wouldnt explain it- i’d toss them a ball and let them play”
He than touched on his life as a fan: “In the barrio of Boedo, not far from where my maternal grandparents lived, the azulgrana (blue and red) of San Lorenzo de Almagro were the most familiar colors to be seen on the streets”, he says. The Club was founded in 1908 by Father Lorenzo Massa also from Piedmont Italy (where the Popes family was from). On their website as of today is multiple tributes to one of their biggest fans.
Francis describes his life as an avid fan of the team in great detail from going to the games with his father and brothers, the atmosphere in the stadium and even the typical foods which still gave him warm memories at the time of writing the book. On San Lorenzo’s title in 1946, he wrote: “I watched nearly all the home matches of the 1946 championships that we would win a few days before my 10th birthday, and well over seventy years later, i can still picture that team as if it were today” His football hero at the time was Rene Alejandro Potoni and he described him as “the symbol of that game of football, of team spirit, of love for a sport that wasn’t just money in the bank, so that rather than the million-dollar temptations of Europe he preferred his club, preferred to stay close to his family, to his friends and the people most important to him”. (A sentiment that this life long fan of Francesco Totti can very much relate to).
“Lets see if any of you have the courage to score a goal like Pontoni”…”Said the Pope when he met the Argentinian and Italian National Teams captained by Messi and Buffon for a charity match after he was elected Pope. In fact Potoni’s son came to visit him at the Vatican some years after his election. Despite not watching TV, the Pope kept informed on the happenings from the football world and describes how a Swiss Guardsman would leave the results and league tables on his desk.
Football was a part of his DNA, like so many people around the world feel about the beautiful game. When San Lorenzo won the Copa Libertadores and came to the Vatican with the trophy, Francis told them so much- “ You are part of my cultural identity”.
But what really struck me reading this chapter, wasn’t so much his love for the game, or his passion for his favorite team. Instead it was his vision of how football should be played and coached. Its a vision that we share at Bonito and why we think the game can be so beautiful.
“I once heard of a trainer of young football players say that on the field you need to walk on tiptoe so as not to trample on the hallowed dreams of youngsters. Its so important not to weigh down their lives with forms of blackmail that hinder their freedom and imagination”- said the Pope. His intention here was that grownups need to stop pushing kids to much to be great and let them have fun- At Bonito we think this is the primary job of grassroots coaches- do develop good people, not just good players.
Continued the Pope on page 85: “For me, the most beautiful football matches are still those played in a local square, whether it is Plazoleta Herminia Brumana, like mine, or any other name, on a cobbled street, on a garden lawn or on a sunbaked dirt road, in whatever corner of the world it happens to be” Then quoting Galeano: “However much technocrats program it down to the smallest detail, however much those in power manipulate it, football still wants to be the art of the unexpected- and to belong to the people”
This is the essence of what football should be and what it has the potential to be when used in its most beautiful way.
So here is a tribute to a fellow footballer, San Lorenzo fan and without perhaps knowing it- football for good advocate- may you rest in peace. To leave with a final quote from the book (a quote which I think is the most “Bonito”):
“Everyone together to chase and control the ball: It doesn’t matter what your name is, who your family is, where you come from. This will always be the real beauty of the game”
