not the #1 fan

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jul 06, 2006

Italy's ANSA news service has the answer to the question everyone has been asking this past week.

Pope Benedict went to bed before the end of the Italy-Germany soccer match on Tuesday.

Or at least that's what ANSA reports, based on an information received from the Pope's secretary, Msgr. Georg Ganswein. But frankly, Msgr. Ganswein's credibility is a bit strained on this question, since earlier he had been cited as saying that the Pope would take a keen but impartial interest in the game. Show me a sports fan who is both avid and impartial, and I'll show you a fictional character.

The latest story rings true, though. Pope Benedict is a kind man. If his secretary comes to work in the morning full of stories about the last night's game, I'm sure he takes a polite interest. But he isn't going to lose any sleep about a soccer game. QED.

Put it this way: If the Pope took as much interest in soccer games as the journalistic world has taken in the Pope's soccer-watching habits, then you could say he was an avid fan.