For the followers of Diego Maradona, Christmas does not fall on December 25 but on October 29, the day before the birth of their idol.
Easter?
For them, it is celebrated every June 22, the anniversary which honors the action of the "hand of God" and this famous goal scored against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup.
On the walls of the temple, their own Vatican City, in Rosario, Argentina, no need to look for Christs on the cross.
They are replaced by pagan statues of their divinity wrapped in white and navy swimsuits in the colors of the Argentine selection.
Yes, Diego Maradona was a true God because he had his own church, the Maradonian Church, the “Iglesia Maradoniana” in Spanish.
El amor de los Maradonianos a # D10S #PascuasMaradonianas # 22/6/86 # 30años video 2 pic.twitter.com/NFRTKaTYJx
- IGLESIA MARADONIANA (@IGMARADONIANA) June 22, 2016
It is a completely recognized, official and above all monotheistic religious movement entirely devoted to Argentina.
Founded on October 30, 1998, the 38th anniversary of Maradona, the Church claims between 80,000 and 100,000 followers in more than 60 countries: "Our religion is football and like any religion, it must have a God," displays the Iglesia Maradoniana. in his own Bible.
The function of the Church is to maintain the passion and the magic with which our God played football, without forgetting the miracles that he performed on the pitches before everyone's eyes and the feeling that the fans are waking up in us. , day after day.
This God is Argentinian and his name is Diego Armando Maradona.
"
For his followers, we are not in 2020 but in the year 60, the Maradonian calendar being born in 1960, like him.
“Maradona is God because he is the only one there will be on the planet, on Earth, because of what he has done, there will not be another person, another player like him.
There will be a lot of players, but none like him, ”said Guillermo Rodríguez, a long-time convert to the Maradona religion, in a recent procession.
Here, "Amen" is replaced by "Diego"
In a country where the Christian faith is not to be taken lightly, the Maradonian Church is neither a sect, nor a crazy idea of schoolchildren at the end of the evening.
Everything is very serious.
Starting with the proper “Pater Noster” which is not quite the same as the one we can recite on Sunday morning.
Here he is called "Diego Nuestro" ("Our Diego") and goes something like this: "Our Diego - Who is on the pitches - May your left foot be blessed - May your magic open our eyes - Make us remember your goals - On earth as in heaven - Give us today our daily happiness - Forgive the English - As we forgive the Neapolitan mafia - Do not let us spoil the ball - And deliver us from Havelange ».
No prayer ends with "Amen" but with "Diego".
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Like all the others, the Church also organizes weddings.
The condition is that both spouses are obviously followers of the God of the place.
The Argentine authorities do not recognize it as completely legal, however.
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At the Iglesia Maradoniana, you can even be baptized.
But there is no holy water in these places: to be accepted among the faithful, you just have to ... score a goal with your left hand, like God on June 22, 1986 against England (2-1), in Mexico City, in World Cup quarter-final.