The Deacon's Bench
He recently renewed his Argentine passport and remains an official card-carrying member of his favorite Buenos Aires football club. But Pope Francis has pledged absolute neutrality for the World Cup.
Francis recalled during an interview published Friday with the Barcelona newspaper “La Vanguardia,” that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had asked him during a February visit to the Vatican to at least be neutral during the competition.
Laughing, Francis said: “The Brazilians asked for neutrality. I’ll keep my word because Brazil and Argentina are always opponents.”
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