Mass in the Basilica, SAINT-DENIS to celebrate the final of the World Cup

On Sunday 12 July at 11h00, a Mass was celebrated in the Basilica at SAINT-DENIS to mark the final of the World Cup. The ceremony was broadcast live on the France 2 television network and projected on a giant screen on the square outside the Basilica. For the closure of the World Cup, worshippers came together from FRANCE and abroad, as well as a contingent of French supporters, their faces painted and sporting a football shirt in the national team’s colours. They were joined in prayer by Brazilians. In his homily, His Lordship Olivier de Berranger, Bishop of SAINT-DENIS of course used the theme of football: “Is the World Cup not a wonderful example of tolerance and communication?” he asked. “With its billions of television viewers, the event has acquired an importance beyond sport, generating a passion that unites men and women of different ages, nationalities and social classes. I dream of a World Cup spirit that would last, unbroken”. The Soweto choir from South Africa added its voices to the singing. The first line of the Lord’s Prayer was recited in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, and the remainder in French. A delegation of around twenty “sans papier” (immigrants who have been refused residence permits by the French authorities) chose the occasion to stage a silent demonstration inside the Basilica. The delegation, from the Val de Marne department, carried a banner demanding regularisation for the department’s “unmarried persons without papers”, and also brandished red cards. The demonstration did not disrupt the religious service.