Scottish Catholic Observer

The Vatican has announced it will host a football match with some of the world’s most famous players to promote peace around the world.

The Interreligious Match for Peace will be held on September 1 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.

In August 2013, Pope Francis met with soccer teams from Argentina and Italy who were together in Rome for a friendly match. At that meeting, the Holy Father told the players from both teams to remember they are role models on and off the field ‘for better or worse.’ He asked for their prayers for himself ‘on the playing field God put me on.’

Argentine footballer Javier Zanetti mentioned that he’d like to see a sporting event that would draws together people of different religions and the match is arose from that meeting.

World famous football players and coaches will participate in the match in Rome, including Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Buffon, Zinedine Zidane, Javier Zanetti, Roberto Baggio, Andrea Pirlo, Yuto Nagatomo and Samuel Eto’o. Proceeds from the event will be donated to charity.

Tickets for the match go on sale this Friday, July 25. All proceeds will benefit Scholas Occurrentes (an educational organisation, supported by Pope Francis through the Pontifical Council for Sciences, that uses technology, art and sport to promote social integration and the culture of encounter) and the PUPI Foundation (a non-profit organisation created by Paula and Javier Zanetti that promotes and supports distance adoption programmes and assistance for children in difficult social conditions.)

Pic below: A nun holds a Messi Argentina shirt at the Vatican during the recent World Cup