San Lorenzo de Almagro: Club with Salesian Roots
(ANS - Buenos Aires – April 2) – On April 1, the Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro celebrated its 111th birthday. Among its fans is none other than Pope Francis, holder of membership card number: 88235N-0.
San
Lorenzo, as it’s more commonly called, was established in Buenos Aires, and
precisely at the San Antonio festive oratory directed by the beloved Salesian
priest Lorenzo Bartolomé Martin Massa.
The
Salesian priest wanted to offer his boys a new recreational space. According to
Fr. Massa himself, the colors of the team’s shirt were taken from an image of
Mary Help of Christians which he kept in the oratory.
It all
started with some youngsters from the Almagro neighborhood who had started to
meet in the street to practice that new sport, soccer. They would play at the
intersection of Mexico and Treinta y Tres Orientales in their
neighborhood.
San
Lorenzo played its first friendly matches on the soccer field of the San
Antonio oratory, always on condition that its young players would participate
in Sunday Mass.
Fr. Massa and one of his soccer teams |
The club
slowly grew, and Fr. Massa was sent to continue his work of evangelization with
other assignments at other destinations. Yet, even so, Fr. Massa was always
attentive to the club of his boys and those who continued to pass through his
oratory.
Fr. Massa
died in Buenos Aires on October 31, 1949. A few days later, Fr. Raul Entraigas,
spiritual assistant of the San Lorenzo de Almagro club, wrote: “His love for
the San Lorenzo de Almagro club was his life and his death, his joy and his
drama. San Lorenzo was his spiritual son. Fr. Massa did not love it as a
father, but as a mother. He rejoiced for its triumphs and suffered for its
defeats.”
Today San
Lorenzo de Almagro is one of the main Argentine clubs, and its activities have
expanded, including, in addition to soccer, other sports, such as basketball,
volleyball, and hockey. And among the many fans, it also boasts the Successor
of Peter, Pope Francis.
Source: Salesianos Cooperadores Argentina
Read more about the Salesian influence on Pope Francis: https://sdbnews.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-jorge-bergoglio-learned-from.html
Read more about the Salesian influence on Pope Francis: https://sdbnews.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-jorge-bergoglio-learned-from.html
No comments:
Post a Comment