Vatican City, Jul 3, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, Father Georg Gänswein, said this week with Germany and Italy playing each other in the World Cup semi-finals today, the Holy Father would be rooting for both teams.
Father Gänswein told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper on Sunday that the Pope, “is always impartial,” and that he would be rooting for, “both the German team and the Italian team.”
Father Gänswein said that while he personally hopes Germany wins, he will be rooting for Italy, as he will watch the game with several cardinals, the nuns who take care of the Holy Father, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the newly appointed Vatican secretary of state.
The World Cup has been followed closely at the Vatican - even by the Holy Father himself - amidst the busy schedules of the Roman curia. Father Gänswein said Pope Benedict watched with great suspense the match between Argentina and Germany, which was decided by penalty shots. He was so enthralled that, “dinner had to be postponed,” the German priest said.