Red Card For Virgin Mary?

Papst Benedikt XVI. besucht Mariazell und Wien
Von Freitag bis Sonntag besucht Papst Benedikt XVI. Österreich. Anlass und Hauptakzent des Papstbesuchs ist das 850-Jahr-Jubiläum von Mariazell: Der Papst pilgert in den steirischen Marienort.
Die Basilika in dem österreichischen Wallfahrtsort von mitteleuropäischer Bedeutung ist dem Fest Mariä Geburt geweiht, das am 8. September gefeiert wird. Papst Benedikt XVI. zelebriert daher am 8. September 2007 in Mariazell den festlichen Gottesdienst, feiert aber schon Freitag eine Messe in Wien am Hof und besucht auch den Judenplatz, wo er ein Gedenken beim Mahnmal für die Opfer der Shoa halten wird.
Aus Anlass des Papstbesuches veröffentliche ich heute die englische Übersetzung meines Fußball- und Religions-bezogenen Postings vom 15. August - "Rote Karte für Heilige Maria".

Pope Benedict XVI Visits Austria From Friday To Sunday
The Pope says that he comes to Austria as a pilgrim to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the Basilica of Mariazell. This famous Styrian place of pilgrimage is the most important pilgrimage site in Austria and also has great meaning for Catholics in the neighboring countries to its east. On Friday the Pope celebrates a mass in Vienna and is going to pray in front of the Shoa Memorial at the Judenplatz.
To mark the Pope's visit in Austria and as in the Basilica of Mariazell a miraculous wooden image of the Virgin Mary is honoured I post the English version of my football and religion-related article which has originally been posted on RAPIDHAMMER on August 15th (Feast of the Assumption).

RED CARD FOR VIRGIN MARY
FIFA wants to prohibit religious messages now on the whole
God`s own mother caused Mario Bazina – a forward from Croatia playing for the Austrian football club Rapid Vienna – to be dismissed from the field in his first game for Rapid Vienna in February 2006.
Full of joy Bazina had drawn his shirt over his head having scored 2-0 in the championship game against Mattersburg. Subsequently he was shown the yellow-red card and was sent off as a result in the 92nd minute. The removal of his shirt which uncovered an imprint of Our Lady of Medjugorje on his undershirt ("This I wear in each game"), brought the faithful Catholic a one match suspension for the next game.
“I quite forgot having had yellow before”, Bazina resumed then, “but it was my first match for Rapid, and it carried a lot of emotions”.
Meanwhile the International Football Association (FIFA) wants religious messages on the jerseys of players to be prohibited. So far the latest reports of the magazine “ Sport Bild”.
Until now Rule 4 of the FIFA Laws of the Game, “Equipment of Players”, banned only "slogans and advertisings". The rule now was supplemented with an addition that prohibits "political, religious or personal slogans or statements."
Particularly football players from Brasil commonly love to use their T-shirts for public demonstrations of their faith all over the world. “It can`t be they prohibit everything”, Dortmund`s back Dèdè claims in “ Sport Bild”.
One of the first football-pros who applied the goal-celebration for their creed was the Brazilian Jorge Jose de Amorim Campos, shortly Jorginho.
He often removed his shirt over his head after scoring, and under it a T-shirt presented sentences like “Jesus loves you”.
Now goal-celebration with the player removing his jersey possibly is a double cautionable offence: in accordance with FIFA-Cirkular No. 579, a player must be cautioned if he "removes his shirt over his head”. If the player demonstrates his creed on his undershirt as well he could receive a double-caution according to Rule 4 which provides that the player must be sanctioned by the competition organiser or by FIFA!
According to “ Sport Bild” the German Soccer Association (DFB) that appeared generously at religious messages in the past, wants the rule-increase consequently executed this year – even at interviews given on the pitch after the final whistle.
Really annoying how sterile, tedious and "politically correct" the FIFA wishes football to be. Fortunately this won't work in practice, the RAPIDHAMMER thinks.