The Chilean Church has given its blessing to the World
Cup with an advert showing home international Fabian Orellana
booting a ball skywards which comes back down and ends up in the
hands of ... Jesus Christ.
"Thank you, Lord, for football," is the message in the campaign
which the church has launched on its website, www.iglesia.cl.
The Church recognises, it says, that God and football can
co-exist.
"Millions of people go to mass in the morning and off to the
football in the evening. Because we are a church with a mission we
live out the best of our values alongside the hopes of an entire
nation" around the Chilean colours, the campaign suggests.
The campaign also juxtaposes a dozen aspects of religion and
football to show how they can be seen as intertwined, including
"the kick off (motivation)" and "the best moves (suggestions for
communities)."
In the same vein the church calls for a spirit of fair play at
the World Cup as for society as a whole while suggesting that
international football "speaks to us about the lives of
peoples."
And adding to the religious spirit of the game Chilean clergy
have highlighted two special World Cup-themed prayers, one based on
an idea drawn up by their South African counterparts calling on God
to grant that "fairness, justice and peace prevail amongst players
and participants".
The other, composed by Chilean bishops, asks God "always to
grant fair play in football and life as a whole so that we may,
with His grace, reach the eternal goal" not, of necessarily winning
the World Cup - which Chile have never managed - but of of "eternal
life in Him."
"It's a good initiative," said Isaldo Bettin, of the parish of
Our Lady of Pompeya, in Santiago.
Father Bettin, being Brazilian, is needless to say a big fan of
the game himself - though he perhaps tactfully avoided mention of
whether his personal prayers were with Chile or his homeland.
Father Bettin did, however, say that "we decided last year to
leave the whole World Cup month free of church events" so that the
people "can watch it without problems."