During Sunday evening mass, Father Cédric Anastase, 33, vicar in the parish of Saint-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris (Ve), usually concludes with a vibrant “Go Paris and long live Jesus! "Like that, people understand what dwells in my heart," he breathes. This Sunday evening, there will be no service due to the holidays. But there is the grand final of the gods at the Luz stadium in Lisbon: the PSG-Bayern final of the Champions League. "It's great, we will be able to get a pre-game," jubilant this priest, faithful to PSG since he was a kid.
For the duel of Titans in crampons, the chaplain of high schools in the Latin Quarter, ordered in 2015, invited his flock to the home. About twenty young people aged between 15 and 22 are expected. On the menu in front of the giant screen, pizzas, "relations of joy and friendship" in accordance with "the Gospel", "a blessing of this moment". But no special prayers to claim victory from the Almighty. “There are more essential things to ask of God,” he warns. “Anyway, God is not going to intervene for one of the two teams, that would be unfair. Well, with a little humor, I will perhaps launch anyway: Lord, deign to look favorably at PSG! »He laughs.
All means are good for evangelizing. Last November, the padre made "the small pastoral investment of the year" by subscribing, during Black Friday, a subscription at a discounted price to RMC sport. A purchase very quickly made profitable with the footballers of the chaplaincy, the matches of the PSG in the Champions League often showing full in the foyer. Father Cédric is the most fervent of the spectators. He believes in the triumph of the capital club against Bayern. “It's a real machine, but they can take away their defensive weaknesses,” he commented, predicting a 2-1 for his team.
"I gave the ball to Ronaldinho for the corner"
The first star who made him dream was Rai a quarter of a century ago. “It was the time of my first PSG jersey, the one with the sponsor Opel. It was my birthday present ”, remembers this son of a Martinican and a Guadeloupean who grew up in the 14th arrondissement. He made his first dribbles at the football club in his neighborhood, first as a center-forward and then a midfielder after having fleshed out his game.
At the very beginning of the 2000s, he was lucky enough to be a ball collector at the Parc des Princes. “I gave the ball to Ronaldinho for the corner. He shot and one of his teammates scored. I was crazy, I kept saying: It was I who gave the pass to Ronnie! He ignites. He also endured the sets of backhands of his eleven fetish. “When someone says to me: Today, it's easy to support PSG , I answer: I have known before Qatar. "
“A game is never over. We have to fight to the end ”
Since wearing the Roman collar, he has matured and looks at his club differently. "I still really like PSG but I am more attentive to the game. I am a reasoned enthusiast", describes the one who goes to the Park twice a season. He has a weakness for the absent Cavani, “who would have deserved to be treated better”, Marquinhos who “cannot tell”, or Kimpembe, “a fighter”. "But I do not understand that we recruited Icardi," he tackles.
This "priest-educator" can draw on the epic of Thiago Silva and his family in the Champions League to send positive messages to young people. The miracle victory, in the final seconds, against Atalanta Bergamo, is blessed bread. “A game is never over. We have to fight to the end. If you give up, it's dead, ”he preaches.
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In his homilies, he happened to mention the PSG. At the beginning of his priesthood, he had, for example, recounted his meeting, one glorious game night at the café, with supporters who promised to follow the club "to death". “I said at mass: I like PSG but not as much as them. I gave my life to Jesus… ”
