Pope Francis has audience with Croatia team at Vatican

Croatian team at the Vatican (Photo credit: Drago Sopta/HNS)

In the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City, a private audience with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, was held for the Croatian national football team and the delegation of the Croatian Football Federation, led by President Marijan Kustić.

The Croatian team was set to meet Pope Francis last June but due to His Holiness having a sudden operation, the private audience was postponed until today.

Pope Francis addressed the Croatian delegation with a special greeting, saying:

“While you play football, you are a team and have the honour of representing your nation. This ‘being a team’ is an aspect of sport that I love to highlight because it mirrors social life, in various environments where people live and work together. Individual actions are important, imagination, creativity… But if individualism prevails, the overall dynamics are disrupted, and the goal is not achieved.

Thank you for setting an example of how to be a team!” said Pope Francis.

President Kustić presented the Pope with a framed Croatian national team jersey with the number one and the name Franjo on the back, along with a replica of the first ball used to play football in Croatia.

“It is a great honour for us to have had the opportunity to meet the Holy Father, and we thank him for his blessing and the kind words he addressed to us. We are proud that through football, we have the privilege of representing the Croatian people. I believe that the world has come to know Croatians as a talented, passionate, and brave nation through our national team, with faith in God and love for family and homeland as the most important values.

Images of our players celebrating their faith in God during the greatest moments of Croatian football have traveled the world and shown how important faith is in our players’ lives. For this reason, this meeting was invaluable to all of us,” said Marijan Kustić, the head of the Croatian football organisation.

“We are blessed to have had the opportunity to meet with the Holy Father. The slogan of our national team is just one word: family. Family values are the foundation of all our successes.

Unity, cooperation, respect, support, friendship, love, and faith are what this team represents, promotes, and lives by every day. This meeting has further inspired us to continue in the same direction, proudly representing our people and homeland,” emphasized the coach of the Croatian team, Zlatko Dalić.

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis informally addressed the Croatian team with these words:

“At the last World Cup, you were third, next time be first or second!”

 

 

 

 

 

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After the audience, the auxiliary bishop of Zagreb, Ivan Šaško, guided the Croatian team and the HNS delegation through St. Peter’s Basilica.

A joint prayer was recited at the altar of Saint John Paul II, preceded by a group photo.