ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 6, 2023 / 17:00 pm
The World Cup won by the Argentine soccer team arrived Wednesday at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján as a way of thanking the Virgin for the team winning the world championship. The rector of the basilica, Father Lucas García, considered it “a joy” to be able to make the connection between what soccer represents and the Virgin of Luján, “the Mother of Hope.”
Wednesday evening, Jan. 4, Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia, president of the Argentine Soccer Association, arrived in the city of Luján in Buenos Aires province to visit the national shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Luján and place at the feet of the Virgin, patroness of Argentina, the national team’s greatest achievement: winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, Father García acknowledged that the arrival of the cup wasn’t a surprise but that it had been in the works since the team’s victory in the World Cup final against France on Dec. 18.
The initial intention, he explained, was “that the team could come to the shrine” as the winning teams of the two previous cups had done in 1978 and 1986.