Late Argentine football legend ranted about John Paul and accused him of not showing enough respect.
After Maradona’s death yesterday, many people talked about the differences he had with Pope John Paul II. In his autobiography, he wrote, “I argued with the Pope when I heard him saying that the church is worried about the poor kids.
I had been to the Vatican, and I’ve seen the gold ceilings there. I asked the pope that if he really wants to help poor kids, why don’t he sell the gold ceilings? The Catholic church should sell the ornate ceilings made of gold if they want to help the poor.
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Pope John Paul II was also a football player; he used to do goalkeeping during his childhood in Poland. His popedom era was from 1978-2005.
Maradona also indicted the pope for not showing enough respect towards him when they met in Rome 20 years ago.
Maradona was the most celebrated sports personality at that time, and he was not pleased with how the pope treated him. He said, “The pope gave me the same rosary as he gives to everyone else. He should have given me a special one.”
In 2014, when Maradona revisited the Vatican, he doubled down on his prior opinion and said, “When I entered the Vatican and saw a roof made of gold, I said to myself how on earth could somebody be such a son of b****.
They visit underdeveloped countries, kiss the hungry kids with full bellies, and say they want to make a difference to the world’s poor? I stopped believing.” By then, his faith was restored by the now Argentine compatriot, Pope Francis.
Maradona played a match organized by the Vatican for world peace, saying, “I lost my belief, but Francisco brought me back.” During the post-match ceremony, he gifted Francisco his national team shirt with his signatures and “Francisco 10” written on it.