Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has gifted Pope Francis a signed Lisandro Martinez Manchester United shirt during a trip to The Vatican on Thursday.
Pope Francis hails from Argentina, the country whom Martinez won the World Cup with in December. Burnham was meeting the Holy Father with a group of religious and civic leaders from Greater Manchester who made a pledge to tackle climate change.
During the private meeting, Burnham presented The Pope with the framed signed United jersey sent by Martinez himself. Earlier in the day, the Labour politician tweeted: “Good morning @LisandrMartinez. We are about to give your gift to the Holy Father!”
READ MORE: Lisandro Martinez shares update from hospital
Martinez - nicknamed 'The Butcher' - signed for United last July from The Netherlands giants Ajax in a £56m deal. The defender has become a key part of manager Erik ten Hag’s success this season, which has included winning the League Cup at Wembley in February.
Martinez will not play for the rest of the season after suffering a metatarsal injury in last week’s Europa League clash with Sevilla, who United play again in Thursday’s second leg of their quarter-final tie in Spain.
As per the BBC, Burnham reflected on the “historic moment” of meeting The Pope regarding climate change, saying: "This is the first time that all the faith leaders of Greater Manchester have come together with civic leaders to agree our pledge for a greener Greater Manchester region."
The group - also made up of Jewish, Hindu and Sikh leaders - was headed by Bishop of Salford, John Arnold, and Dean of Manchester, Rogers Govender.
According to The Tablet, Pope Francis told them about their pledge: “An essential aspect of this contribution is your commitment, as men and women of faith, to forming the minds and hearts of the young, and seconding their demand for a change of course and for farsighted policies that have as their goal a sustainable and integral human development.”
READ NEXT:
