Pope Francis receives signed Lionel Messi shirt

We all know Argentina is a football loving nation, and as kid the Pope played soccer too. So its come with no surprise since his ordination, that the Pope has made great play of eschewing the flashier robes of office.And now the Argentine has clearly found the chance to own a shirt worn by his compatriot Lionel Messi too hard to resist.
Lionel Messi the four-time Ballon d’Or winner – not the Pope – sent His Holiness a shirt with the words “with much affection”, the Vatican said.
Like one of his predecessors, John Paul II, Pope Francis is a keen football fan. He supports Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo, one of Argentina’s top five clubs, and has been known to give a thumbs up sign to San Lorenzo supporters gathered in Rome’s St Peter’s Square.
The club (San Lorenzo) even sent him a jersey shirt with the words “Pope Francis. Let us pray for him. Pray for us.”
And last Monday he was given another football shirt, this time of the Spain national team, by Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. It was signed by all the players.
This present Pope has gone on to show much admiration for the round leather game more than all his predecessors in his short time in office as pope of the roman catholic church worldwide.