The 2024 UEFA European Championships will kick off on 14 June. Taking place in Germany, the month-long tournament will feature 24 teams from across the continent aiming to become European champions.
Many Catholics may view sports tournaments sceptically, conceiving them as a generally unnecessary distraction from our spiritual lives (not to mention the rank greed involved due to astronomical amounts of money sloshing around for a lucky few). Should it not be more important to focus on God than eleven players kicking a ball?
Recent events throughout June have, however, suggested otherwise and that things aren’t as straightforward as the football field being severed from spirituality; it has been demonstrated that even those in football can sanctify their work by giving thanks to God for what they've achieved on the pitch.
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The first example of this occurred 2 June at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, a day after Spanish football club Real Madrid defeated their German opponents Borussia Dortmund, 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium.
As part of their Champions League victory celebrations, the club were welcomed into Almudena Cathedral by the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, who led a ceremony inside the Cathedral honouring the achievements of Real Madrid following the end of their football season.
It is typically a tradition in Spain for clubs to present their trophies at their local churches and cathedrals. Sevilla FC, for example, offered their Europa League trophy to the Virgin Mary at Seville Cathedral last year.
The attendants inside Almudena Cathedral for Real Madrid's ceremony included the club president, Florentino Perez, manager Carlo Ancelotti and his coaching staff, along with all the players dressed in their formal suits.
Cardinal Cobo congratulated the club on their Champions League victory and afterwards invoked Our Lord by saying: “Jesus also wants to be present and thank us for this cup. He helps us to recognise what is truly important in life.”
Speaking specifically of the Virgin of Almudena, the Cardinal explained that “She takes care and, as a good mother, intercedes for her children, believers and nonbelievers. Always from here she blesses and welcomes the prayers and hopes of all those who look to her and of those who search deeply for the profound meaning of life.”
The Virgin of Almudena is a title given to Our Lady as patroness of the city of Madrid. Local Catholic legends claim an original statue of her was brought from the Holy Land by St James the Great, patron of Spain and the <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/pilgrimage-standoff-assisi-or-santiago-de-compostela-its-a-tough-call/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">hero of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage</mark></a>.
During the Islamic invasion of Spain in the eighth century, the faithful Catholics of what is now the city of Madrid hid the statue of the Virgin of Almudena in the walls of one of the citadel's towers in order to protect it from destruction by their Muslim conquerors. Centuries later in 1085, following the Catholic reconquest of Madrid, King Alfonso VI held a procession around the citadel, and legend has it that part of the wall collapsed exposing the image of the Virgin Mary next to lighted candles behind the rubble.
Subsequently this image has been venerated as the Virgin of Almudena (“Almudena” comes from the Arabic as “al-mudayna”, which translates to “citadel"). The location where the image was found then served as the spot where Almudena Cathedral would later be built and dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena. While the original statue has since been lost, the present statue in the Cathedral dates back to the 15th century.
As part of the ceremony, the Cardinal invited the players to walk up the stairs and present their Champions League trophy in front of the statue of the Virgin of Almudena. When the crowds outside the cathedral caught sight of the team captain Nacho Fernández lifting the trophy towards Our Lady, in what was a joyous moment the sounds of applause drowned out the Spanish hymns being sung by the choir. The club President Florentino Perez later presented Cardinal Cobo with a small replica of the trophy.
The Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric was then involved a few days later in another conflation of football and religious ceremony when he with other members of the Croatian national team attended a private audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
Despite having a population of less than four million people, Croatia boasts an impressive national team who recently finished third place at the last World Cup in 2022 and even reached the final in 2018, when they lost to France in a thrilling match. <br><br>The Pope was presented with a personalised Croatia shirt and a ball, while he congratulated the team on their recent World Cup runs before imparting a blessing on the squad with a blessing. He also addressed the team by explaining that “being a team is an aspect of sport I like to emphasise, because it is a metaphor for social life, in the various environments in which one lives and works together with others”.
His Holiness highlighted “the sense of honour, friendship…fraternity, loyalty and self-control” that athletes must have. The Cardinal likewise highlighted fraternity and addressed the importance sports has on society, by pointing out that “on the field, the origin, language or culture of a person doesn't matter.”
Both prelates in their respective addresses also addressed the responsibility that these footballers have on society, with the Pope reminding the Croatians the impact they will have on the youth in their nation.
Regardless of whether the players of Real Madrid and Croatia are devout Catholics or not, the Church reminds these footballers that despite their wealth and fame, they have a duty to be strong role models in society, especially for the young. The Christian values of sports are far superior to the money that comes along with it and which might seem to taint it.
Spain and Croatia are both historically Catholic nations that have undergone anti-Catholic persecutions throughout periods of the 20th century; committed by the anti-clerical Spanish Republicans in the 1930s and the Communist regime of Yugoslavia respectively. Having overcome these evils and the ongoing tide of secularism, these recent public events have revealed <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/blood-and-blessing-catholicism-and-corrida/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">how intrinsic Catholicism remains in their cultures</mark></a>.
Meanwhile, in our historically Protestant nations, we will have to continue to wait a while to see if the Three Lions receive a blessing from the Pope in the Vatican were they to win the World Cup, or to see the next Super Bowl winners decide to present their trophy inside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. (though this year, Super Bowl-winner <a href="http://Harrison Butker"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Harrison Butker managed to create a Catholic stir</mark></a> in secular circles with his "controversial" commencement address at a university).
Catholics may nevertheless feel inspired going into the 2024 UEFA European Championships. Whilst many non-religious football fans state that football is “their religion”, they may discover and ponder that some of the most illustrious footballers and the biggest teams in the world submit to the Catholic religion and understand that it is necessary to owe God and his Blessed Mother glory in public – something that we can all learn from in our daily lives.<br><br><em>Photo: Real Madrid's players parade through Madrid on their bus at Cibeles square to mark their 15th Champions League trophy, one day after beating Borussia Dortmund, Madrid, Spain, 2 June 2024. (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
