The (literally ''Church of Maradona'' or ''Maradonian Church'') is a

parody religion A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges the spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque (literary ridicule). Often constructed to achieve a specific purpose related to another belief sys ...

, created by fans of the late

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

, whom they believe to be the greatest of all time. The Church was founded on October 30, 1998 (Maradona's 38th birthday) in the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, Argentina by three fans (Héctor Campomar, Alejandro Verón and Hernán Amez). It could be seen as a type of

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

or as a religion, depending on what religious definition one chooses to use. It was said by Alejandro Verón, one of the founders: "''I have a rational religion and that's the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and I have a religion passed on my heart and passion and that's Diego Maradona.''" Supporters of the Church, supposedly from all parts of the world, count the years since Maradona's birth in 1960 with the era designation (). They also use for Maradona since it fuses ("God") and ''10'', the number on Maradona's jersey.Vidal Bueno, Jorge
Dios es argentino. Nacionalismo cultural argentino y Maradona
Repositorio académico de la

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

. Consulted on 11 October de 2016. The church has expanded to other countries such as

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, among many others.Amarás a Maradona sobre todas las cosas
Revista ''KienyKe''. Consultado el 23 de noviembre de 2016. In Spain, for example, it is believed that there are more than 9,000 followers.

Ten Commandments

The "

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

" of the Iglesia Maradoniana are:The Guardian
Diego Maradona - 'He was sent from above'
11 November 2008. # The ball is never soiled. # Love football above all else. # Declare unconditional love for Diego and the beauty of football. # Defend the Argentine shirt. # Spread the news of Diego's miracles throughout the universe. # Honour the temples where he played and his sacred shirts. # Don't proclaim Diego as a member of any single team. # Preach and spread the principles of the Iglesia Maradoniana. # Make "Diego" your middle name. # Name your first son "Diego".

References

External links

*
BBC article
by Tim Vickery. {{Fanatism in Association football Argentine satire Association football supporters' associations Football in Argentina Religion in Argentina Religious parodies and satire Association football fandom Subcultures of religious movements Cultural depictions of Diego Maradona 1998 establishments in Argentina

Ten Commandments

See also

References

External links