On World Cup Soccer and the Catholic Faith

One of the beauties of World Cup soccer for me is the public faith of the players from Catholic countries--and some from non-catholic countries as well. There are few things more "World Cup-py" than the sight of the players touching the turf and crossing themselves as they enter the field. This morning the Paraguayan team players did it, as any South American team would, and the English team members looked incomplete to this viewer as they entered the field without the ritual. I googled this and found an interesting piece published past week on the Catholic faith as it is present during the games in Germany:

World-"God save the team" service for fans
Wed 7 Jun 2006

By Alexandra Hudson
DORTMUND, June 7 (Reuters) - For soccer
fans seeking divine intervention on behalf of their teams or in need of
consolation after a crushing defeat, religious pastors will be on hand in each
of Germany's World Cup cities to offer spiritual care.
"Yes -- it is sad when
a team loses but we will be there to talk with fans and help remind them of the
more important things in life," said Father Matthias Boensmann, a Catholic
priest from Dortmund, who will make himself available to fans throughout.
"I
hope people come to us for comfort though I'm sure some supporters will still
seek solace in alcohol instead," he added.
Among the hundreds of thousands to
visit Germany will be supporters from more fervent nations such as Brazil,
Mexico or Poland.
The host nation's powerful Catholic and Protestant churches
have set up a vast programme of events to cater to their needs ranging from
confessions to foreign language services.
Father Boensmann will spend much of
his time working in the non-denominational prayer and meditation area of
Dortmund's "Fan Village", a converted exhibition centre right by the soccer
stadium which will house 4,000 fans during the tournament.
"It will be an
area where people can find peace," he said.
The priest -- whose closest
experience to the task ahead was looking after marathon runners last year --
said soccer and faith had much in common.
"Football has a lot of religious
elements, though it is a pseudo religion which can be dangerous," he
said.
"For some football assumes the significance of a god and a religion but
you can not build anything lasting on such fanatical belief."
"HAND OF
GOD"
The priest added the manifest faith of some football players who cross
themselves before taking penalties or who pray for God's help on the pitch could
prove a good advert for religion and teach more inhibited Christians how to
express belief.
He remembers the stunned silence from German television
commentators after the Brazilians knelt down together in a circle and prayed
after winning the Confederations Cup.
"They didn't know what to say," he
said.
The reliance of players such as Argentine Diego Maradona on a mix of
skill and the grace of God, have often baffled and intimidated non-believing
opponents.
His "hand of God" goal of 1986 has gone done in football
folklore.