The Pope displeased about Italian soccer coach’s religious signs

Roberto Mancini no longer allows himself to make the sign of the cross on a football field, so that the pope does not “get angry”.

Shouldn’t a pope be the first promoter of the Catholic religion? It is no longer the case, it seems. In an interview with Italian TV TG5, the coach of the Italian football team reported a statement by Pope Francis which is – to say the least – a bit disturbing, reported the site Breizh info.

Therefore, according to the former international footballer, the sovereign pontiff had encouraged him to no longer show his Christian faith on a football field. “I was doing this hoping that nothing would happen during the match, then we went to see the pope. He said, ‘Why are you doing the sign of the cross, don’t you have any other thoughts at that time?’. So since that day, I don’t do it anymore. I would not want the pope to get angry,” he said.

Roberto Mancini has been Catholic since his childhood, and has never hidden it. As a youngster, his life “was divided between school, home and parish,” he told Italian television. But since this Pope’s intervention, he will no longer allow himself to publicly express his faith.

However, as Breizh info pointed out, the bishop of Rome seems to be attached to identity.

Thus, in April 2019, he declared: “We are not mushrooms, born alone: ​​we are people born in a family, in a people and often this liquid culture makes us forget belonging to a people. One criticism I would make is the lack of patriotism. Patriotism is not just about singing the national anthem or paying homage to the flag. Patriotism is belonging to a land, a history, a culture.”

Italian culture, filled with signs and symbols of Christianity, seems to have escaped the sovereign pontiff in the case of Roberto Mancini…

The Italian football manager and former player, is the manager of the Italy national team. He was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped the team win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italia titles, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. He was capped 36 times for Italy, taking part at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, achieving semi-final finishes in both tournaments.

Mancini has reached at least a semi-final of a major national cup competition in every season he has been a manager, from 2002 to 2013. He holds a number of records, including most consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008.