{"id":621657,"date":"2026-04-21T15:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621657\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T15:40:17","slug":"the-boxing-world-honors-the-memory-of-pope-francis-on-the-first-anniversary-of-his-passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/621657\/","title":{"rendered":"The Boxing World Honors the Memory of Pope Francis on the First Anniversary of His Passing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Boxing World Honors the Memory of Pope Francis on the First Anniversary of His Passing<\/p>\n<p>The World Boxing Council and its President, Mauricio Sulaim\u00e1n, join today in a solemn and grateful tribute to mark the first anniversary of the passing of Pope Francis (1936\u20132025).<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-181187\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papa-ms.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"600\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first Latin American Pope in history, was more than just a spiritual guide to millions since his election in 2013; he became a fundamental pillar for the humanitarian growth of boxing.<\/p>\n<p>His blessings, rooted in deep faith, had effects that many within our sport consider miraculous\u2014transforming lives and offering hope in the darkest of times.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-181189\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papa-f-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"881\" height=\"495\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The relationship between the Holy Father and the Sulaim\u00e1n family was profound and close. This union was born from a shared vision of education and sports as tools for social change.<\/p>\n<p>Following Rom\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s proposal in 2016, H\u00e9ctor Sulaim\u00e1n led the launch of Scholas Mexico, working alongside global directors Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro.<\/p>\n<p>From this collaboration, BoxVal (Boxing with Values) was born\u2014a program designed to educate through boxing, art, and technology. As the noblest of sports, with a unique capacity to instill discipline and respect, boxing was chosen by the Pope and the WBC as the ideal vehicle to promote global harmony.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-149360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hector-mauricio-papa-francisco-.webp.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-106137\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papa-francisco.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"686\" height=\"386\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25120\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MAURICIO-PAPA.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"577\" height=\"484\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-149368\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/chavez-papa.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"489\" height=\"519\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-148750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sulaiman-papa-francisco.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1182\"  \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-149297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papa-francisco-mauricio-y-hector.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"740\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The impact of this relationship took form in the historic \u201cFights for Peace.\u201d The first of these, a matchup between Catholic fighter Sa\u00fal \u201cCanelo\u201d \u00c1lvarez and Muslim fighter Amir Khan, proved that sport can transcend religious barriers.<\/p>\n<p>During the promotional tour across England, New York, and Los Angeles, the Olive Tree of Peace was presented, and commemorative belts were crafted by Argentine artisan Adri\u00e1n Pallarols, a close collaborator of the Holy Father.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-93180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/olivo-paz-canelo-ryder.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis always kept his doors open for the WBC, welcoming legends such as Julio C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez, Deontay Wilder, Sergio \u201cMaravilla\u201d Mart\u00ednez, and Canelo \u00c1lvarez in private audiences, always urging them to be examples of integrity for the youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-141541\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/francisco-papa.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"536\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Today, we recall his final words spoken on Easter Sunday in 2025:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us renew our hope and our trust in others, even those who are different from us or come from distant lands\u2026 For we are all children of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His passing in 2025, following a courageous battle with pneumonia, left an immense void. However, his spirit lives on in every memory and in every corner of the world where boxing serves to unite rather than divide.<\/p>\n<p>The World Boxing Council is eternally grateful for the blessings His Holiness bestowed upon our community.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-134148\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/papa-bendicion-vanes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"331\" height=\"546\"  \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boxing World Honors the Memory of Pope Francis on the First Anniversary of His Passing The World&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-621657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}