Brazil, Pope Honor Pele

Soccer great died one year ago
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 30, 2023 4:05 PM CST
Brazil, Pope Honor Pele
The Christ the Redeemer statue is illuminated with an image of Pele's Brazilian jersey on Friday as a tribute to the soccer legend on his one-year death anniversary, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday.   (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Christ the Redeemer was lit up in a Pele shirt among Brazilian tributes to the soccer great on the first anniversary of his death on Friday. Pele died of colon cancer at age 82. Christ the Redeemer had a projection of a Brazil shirt with Pele's name and No. 10 and a message from Pope Francis. Pelé was a devout Catholic. "Pele, as Mr. Edson Arantes do Nascimento became globally known, was undoubtedly an athlete who showed in his life all positive traits of a sportsman," the pontiff said in a letter as a local orchestra played, the AP reports. "The memory of 'the King of Soccer' remains indelible in the minds of many, and it stimulates new generations to seek in sport a means to strengthen the bonds of unity among us."

Religious ceremonies were held at the Museu Pele in Santos, the port city the soccer star put on the map with his goals and success for Santos club, and in the small city of Tres Corações, where he was born in 1940. Santos also held a tribute at its Vila Belmiro Stadium, where Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, one of Pele's sons, released 10 white balloons from the center circle. Pele's funeral was at the stadium. FIFA paid its respects with a video of highlights of the Brazilian great with a message: "Pele's legacy will always live on." Pele is the only man to win the World Cup three times.
(More Pele stories.)

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