'Soccer-mad' Pope Francis is thrilled to meet the Bayern Munich team

'Soccer-mad' Pope Francis is thrilled to meet the Bayern Munich team

During a private meeting with members of the FC Bayern Munich sports club on Wednesday, Pope Francis told the soccer players that they "played a wonderful game."

Bayern Munich beat Roma 7-1 in Italy on Tuesday night. The team gave Pope Francis a signed soccer ball and jersey — complete with "Francis" across the back. For Pope Francis, a noted "soccer-mad" sports fan (at least according to The Associated Press), the moment was quite a special one, as seen in his expression in the below photos.

CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge also announced that the German club would donate one million euros for Pope Francis to use "to help people in need wherever they are in the world and regardless of their faith." --Meghan DeMaria

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.