Maradona´s Church

Maradona´s church was founded October 30th of 1998 in Rosario for Hernan Amez and Alejandro Verón. Diego Armando Maradona was an important figure of the history of Argentina, coming to be considered the ¨God¨ of soccer. So as a tribute of him Argentineans created a church and a religion that revolves around him. But should this be considered as a religion or is just a part of their culture?

A religion according to my point of view is about a set of believes, behaviors and ceremonies followed by a group of people with common ideals. So far, we could consider the Maradonians as a religion, since it is governed under 10 commandments and has a group of followers. But in my opinion, what differentiates, for example, Christianity from Maradonism, is that through religion a relationship with the divinity is worshiped or recognized, and the divinity refers to an essence or nature of a supernatural being, that making reference to something that can´t be explained by the laws of nature. So, for me Maradona wasn´t a supernatural being on which to create a whole religion, but on the other hand he was an excellent soccer player who deserved all his recognition, but being an excellent player is something that can be explained and has its reasons.

So, to sum it up and answer the main question, I don´t consider the Maradonian Church as a religion, I see it as part of their culture. And I think they went a long way from just admiring and idolizing a person to going on to create a religion. But on the other hand, I do respect the people and their different beliefs and points of view.