Camille Dalmas<\/a> \u2013 Published on January 12, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n \u00abFaith is important. Either you have it or you don\u2019t, but you can\u2019t fake it\u2026 or else you\u2019re just lying to yourself, because He up there sees everything!\u00a0\u00bb said Wendie Renard, 31, the iconic defender for Olympique Lyonnais and captain of the French national soccer team, after meeting Pope Francis on Wednesday, January 12.<\/span><\/p>\n With her tall stature (1.87 m), it\u2019s impossible to miss her as she walks between two Swiss Guards stationed at the entrance to the Vatican. Wendie Renard, accompanied by about ten other members of a delegation of Catholic athletes from Lyon\u2014including some basketball players from the \u201cTony Parker Academy\u201d\u2014has just met with Pope Francis and then taken a stroll through the Vatican gardens. Beneath her mask, you can sense a broad smile. The signed Athletica Vaticana jersey<\/span><\/p>\n Describing herself from the outset as a \u00abbeliever,\u00bb the soccer player explained that the Pope \u00abwas happy\u00bb to meet her and even \u00abcongratulated\u00bb her. She gave him two jerseys, one from the French national team and one from Olympique Lyonnais. During the audience, the Pope, for his part, autographed the jersey of the Athletica Vaticana\u2014the Vatican City State\u2019s sports team. \u00abIt\u2019s a great joy,\u00bb continues the woman, who is visiting Rome for the first time and for whom faith is first and foremost a family matter. \u00abI\u2019ve been immersed in it since I was very young; my mother raised me in the faith, so for me it\u2019s a natural path.\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n Camille Dalmas<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \n With @WRenard<\/a> and @EGobilliard<\/a> Just outside the Vatican; apparently, the Athletica Vaticana just pulled off a great deal in the transfer market \ud83d\ude09 We're going to have to talk to the pope @JM_Aulas<\/a> @OL<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThis meeting with the Pope, following the general audience, is \u00aba blessing at the start of this new year,\u00bb she explains. She says she is delighted to have been able to exchange a few words with him\u2014first in French, then with the help of Bishop Emmanuel Gobillard, auxiliary bishop of Lyon and the archdiocese\u2019s sports delegate, who organized this \u00abpilgrimage of athletes.\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n