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The Pope has never been to Celtic Park. That’s a shame although unsurprising too. However the club has been very cooperative with Catholic practises, and in the past there have been large scale Catholic services held at the ground catering for the faithful.
The Pope is a central figure in the world and with the Catholic historical roots of the club then he is unsurprisingly a much respected figure amongst most of the more pious section of the support.
In the early years of the club when the influence and involvement of members of the church was substantial, after winning our first trophy a telegram was sent to the Vatican to inform the Holy Father of this success by a group from his flock. Not known if there was any response, likely too busy to reply.
As a measure of the club’s historical links to the Catholic church, in the 1950’s, the then manager was Jimmy McGrory who was a devout Catholic took up an invitation to play Lazio in 1950 in a match to mark their anniversary. One benefit of this would be the ability to visit the Vatican and see the Holy Father the Pope himself in a mass service. Back in those days this was unprecedented for a group of working class folk to get such an opportunity so easily, and the honour was gratefully received. Celtic coach Jimmy Hogan, was a strongly practicing Roman Catholic told the Scottish Catholic Observer newspaper:
“We were a matter of only a few yards from the Pope. When the Celtic team was announced, he looked at us directly and blessed us all.”
The Pope in his sermon even mentioned Celtic, stating on the occasion in front of the 80,000 audience that the “Glasgow Celtic from Scotland were with us today“.
Fan’s favourite Charlie Tully wrote lovingly on this experience in his biography, and is a measure of the respect he had for the Pope and the club for giving him such an opportunity.
One joke that passed around in Glasgow after this was that with Charlie Tully’s popularity, it was such that when Celtic were in Rome and granted a Papal Visit, that when Charlie got his picture taken with the Pope the joke was to ask the question “Who is that fella standing beside Charlie Tully?” – The joke being that Charlie was more well known than the Pope himself.
Since then travel to Rome has been made much easier and cheaper for people to visit the Vatican. The Pope has visited Glasgow on two occasions since the 1980s but not to Celtic Park. If he had visited, Celtic Park this last time he was here in 2010, he’d likely have been thrilled by the sight of a number of Vatican state flags and branded scarves being adorned by attendants of the Celtic matches. Nice touch.
You’ll find the odd fan who likes to dress up in fancy dress for certain games will sometimes even choose to dress up as the Pope. You can ask them yourselves about this choice.
As secularism rises, the Catholic Church has been in decline in its influence amongst the support, which is left for discussion on a more appropriate forum elsewhere. However, the support should always acknowledge the Church for its part in the history of our club, and for the positive part that its ethos has left.
The Holy Father is thus an important figure in any analysis of the club’s evolution, and maybe we should hope that one day the incumbent head of the Roman Catholic Church will pay the club a visit. He will be well received.
2023
After playing Lazio, the Celtic team had a private meeting with Pope Francis. A fine moment with the Pope commenting:
“I pray that you will continue to remember and bear witness to everything that makes sport genuinely good and noble. May Almighty God bless each of you and your families. I wish you a safe journey home to Scotland.”
He also gave a bit of advice:
“And a final piece of advice. It has come to my attention that you have in your land a very important speciality, a special ‘milk’… A little is fine!”
Quotes
After a match v Rangers (Oldco), Artur Boruc (nicknamed the ‘Holy Goalie’ by the Celtic fans) took his goalkeeping shirt off to show a t-shirt with a picture of the Pope and accompanying slogan.
But manager Strachan joked: “He’s not a bad lad, to be fair (the Pope). If it was ‘God bless Myra Hindley’, I might have a problem.”
Gordon Strachan after 3-2 win v Rangers (Oldco) on Artur Boruc and his t-shirt (Apr 08)
Pope Francis welcomes Celtic Football Club from Glasgow at the Vatican today, and spoke about the ‘valued legacy’ of Celtic and how it was originally established to help fight poverty. “I pray that you will continue to remember and bear witness to everything that makes sport genuinely good and noble. May Almighty God bless each of you and your families. I wish you a safe journey home to Scotland.”
Colm Flynn @colmflynnire VATICAN (29 Nov 2023)
Articles
From Charlie Tully’s Biog
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Apr 2014
In April 2014, popular Celtic social media fan ‘PaulTheTim’ gave a Celtic top with ‘Pope Francis’ on the back to his mother to pass on to the Pope. Incredibly he received it as below. Wonder how he felt. He is a big fan of his local side in Argentina, but let’s hope he has a place for Celtic in his heart too.
Meeting with the Pope – Celtic have private audience with Pope Francis in The Vatican
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2023/november/29/celtic-have-private-audience-with-pope-francis-in-the-vatican/
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By Joe Sullivan
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29 Nov 2023, 11:20 am
Celtic players and staff were granted a private audience with his Holy Father, Pope Francis earlier today (Wednesday) before flying back to Glasgow from Rome following last night’s game against Lazio.
His Holy Father said: “I am pleased to welcome you here to the Vatican, during your stay in Rome following your UEFA Champions League match with Lazio yesterday evening.
“While it is true that winning rather than losing a match is always preferred, it is not the most important aspect! More vital is the example you give when winning or losing, both on and off the field. An example that embodies the virtues of courage, perseverance, generosity and respect for the God-given dignity of others. Indeed, Celtic Football Club was founded in 1887 with the specific goal of alleviating poverty in the City of Glasgow. This was truly a charitable undertaking for the sake of the most needy of our brothers and sisters. Yet, how much the world of football has changed since then. In particular, the financial footprint of the ‘Beautiful Game’ has greatly increased, and at times can risk making football only attractive for reasons of monetary profit.
“The valued legacy of your Club, then, places a heavy responsibility upon your shoulders, reminding you to be good role-models, especially for young people. The standards you are called to set concern not only your abilities as sportsmen and the classic qualities required to excel, but are also about your personal integrity. In this regard, men and women should see in you not just fine footballers but also people of kindness, big-hearted men who know how to be wise stewards of the many benefits you receive from your privileged positions within society.
“With these brief remarks, I pray that you will continue to remember and bear witness to everything that makes sport genuinely good and noble. May Almighty God bless each of you and your families. I wish you a safe journey home to Scotland, and ask you, please, to pray for me!”
Celtic Chairman, Peter Lawwell presents a Celtic Cross to The Pope
The Holy Father added: “I will speak to you in Italian. I wanted to say one thing to you. In sport, the most beautiful thing is gratuitousness, that beauty of playing together. Please, never lose the amateur spirit! This is the beautiful thing: the amateur spirit, where sport is for sport. This means a great deal. Thank you for this. It doesn’t matter if we have won or if we have not won, it doesn’t matter. Everyone struggles to win, but victory is not the goal, that can be defeat: victory is the entire process of playing together, playing as a team. Maintain the amateur spirit. That is the most beautiful thing about sport. Thank you for this visit.
“Now, I would like to greet you one by one.”
And meeting the players and travelling party, the Pope added a small nod towards Scotland’s own Uisge beatha, he said: “And a final piece of advice. It has come to my attention that you have in your land a very important speciality, a special ‘milk’… A little is fine!”
