One of Brazil’s most famous soccer players was just baptized

Kelsey Dallas
·2 min read
3
Ronaldo, Brazil’s former soccer player and a member of the local organizing committee for the 2014 World Cup, talks during a news conference at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 27, 2014.
Ronaldo, Brazil’s former soccer player and a member of the local organizing committee for the 2014 World Cup, talks during a news conference at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 27, 2014. | Felipe Dana, Associated Press
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The Catholic Church just gained a soccer star.

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, known simply as “Ronaldo” to soccer fans around the world, recently shared on Instagram that he was baptized at the Church of Sao Jose in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Today is a very special day,” he wrote in the Portuguese caption, which was translated by Sports Illustrated.

Related

Ronaldo, now 46, retired from professional soccer in 2011 at age 34. He’s known as one of the best soccer players in history and as a key reason why Brazil claimed the World Cup in 2002. (He was also with the team when Brazil won in 1994.)

“Ronaldo will be remembered as one of the greatest footballers of all time, with a scoring rate of approaching a goal a game while plying his trade with top European club sides PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Real Madrid and both Internazionale and AC Milan,” CNN reported in 2010.

Ronaldo was FIFA’s player of the year three times during his career.

Although Ronaldo has only just been baptized, he grew up surrounded by Catholic churches, symbols and celebrations. In his Instagram caption, he described faith as a “fundamental part” of his life.

“With the sacrament, I feel truly regenerated as a child of God — in a new, more aware, deeper way,” he said, as Sports Illustrated reported. “I renew my commitment to follow the way of good, free and spontaneous will, believing in the love of Jesus, in charity love.”

Around half of Brazilians identify with the Catholic Church, according to U.S. State Department research on religious freedom around the world.

Ronaldo has gotten to know many prominent Catholics through his soccer career.

Lionel Messi is Catholic and Ronaldinho, or Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who played alongside Ronaldo for Brazil at the 2002 World Cup, once spent time with the pope.