Pilgrims flock to pay tribute to pope lying in state
Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the beautiful game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with football metaphors in his homeland.
Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced, as world leaders from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader.
Pope Francis died yesterday, aged 88, prompting mourning across the world for the energetic reformer who inspired devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists during a 12-year papacy.
Football is often compared to a religion for its fans, and Francis held numerous giant masses in football stadiums during trips abroad.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were also among a slew of top-flight clubs joining La Liga in expressing their condolences for Francis.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) announced that all games across professional and amateur football on Monday would be rescheduled to a later date.
Following are reactions to death o Pope Francis
Here are some facts about Pope Francis, who has died at the age of 88
Pope Francis, whose papacy has been marked by efforts to quell a global crisis over sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, says he is committed to stopping the abuse of nuns by priests and bishops, some of whom had used the women as sex slaves.
Pope Francis has declined to comment on a growing scandal after a former Vatican official claimed the pontiff ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman and called on him to resign.
Pope Francis condemns the use of chemical weapons in Syria after a suspected attack in an opposition holdout in Eastern Ghouta killed dozens of people.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday had a meeting with Pope Francis, spiritual leader of the world's Catholics, at the Holy See in Vatican City.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina holds a meeting with Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the Catholics of the world, at the Holy See in Vatican City.
Pope Francis says he was really afraid about the danger of nuclear war and that the world now stood at “the very limit”.
Pope Francis in his Christmas message calls for adequate protection of the dignity of Rohingyas, who fled to Bangladesh following persecution in Myanmar.
As the impressions of Pope Francis' back-to-back visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh sink in, some self-evident truths glare through the mists of Naypyidaw, the new Burmese capital.
Pope Francis, speaking hours before US President Donald Trump's announcement on Jerusalem, calls for the city's "status quo" to be respected, saying new tension in the Middle East would further inflame world conflicts.
Pope Francis defends his strategy of avoiding the term “Rohingya” in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.
