Has the Pope ever played professional football?greenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic : One Thread |
we are researching the pope for our philosophy degrees and somebody informed us that pope john paul II once had a flourishing professional football career before becoming the pope. please could someone tell us if there is any truth in this story?
-- elena medin& ann-marie tierney (elemed@softhome.net), September 29, 2004
"Football" is european for soccer, He was a goalie on his city's team I believe. Look at the book Wittness to Hope by George Weigel.
-- joe@joe.com (joe @joe.com), September 29, 2004.
He was a gifted quarterback. He was very skilled at the Hail Mary pass. ;-)Actually, I think joe is correct. He played soccer, but not professionally.
-- Brian Crane (brian.crane@cranemills.com), September 29, 2004.
I don't think there was such a thing as professional sport in Poland when he was young. He was an active skier until just before becoming Pope, and he continued hiking in his early years as Pope.
-- Steve (55555@aol.com), September 29, 2004.
JPII was a lumberjack, too.
-- 7878 (7878@yahoo.com), September 30, 2004.
he played with maradonna, but the pope actually had the hand of god. (sent by a 11 year old)
-- joseph (jw.davies@ntlworld.com), November 02, 2004.
The Pope played rugby for the Polish national team. It is a sport that requires/teaches teamwork, quick decision skills and requires a tremendous amount of courage.
-- Mike K (mkachik@blazenet.net), February 11, 2005.
Mike, Do you have a reliable source for that statement? I think it’s an urban myth put out by rugby types.
-- Steve (55555@aol.com), February 12, 2005.