Germany Vs. Argentina World Cup 2014 Game Of Popes: Who Will Win The Holy War? Best Memes, Tweets, Jokes, Pictures And More

They have broken bread together, prayed together, and each ruled the Vatican respectively, but Pope Francis of Argentina and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI of Germany, find themselves in the middle of a soccer rivalry as their two countries meet in the World Cup Final on Sunday.

As odd as it is to have two living popes simultaneously (the last time was in 1296), it’s even odder that each hails from the two countries that meet in this year’s World Cup Final. Can you say divine intervention?

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI played soccer as a child and has openly spoken about the role of sports in the world as a way to instill the values of “honesty, solidarity and fraternity” to our youth.

Pope Francis is a lifelong soccer fan who has made it no secret over the years his love for Argentine soccer club, San Lorenzo. Despite being the pontiff and conducting a busier schedule than the POTUS, he still follows the San Lorenzo team.

Pope Francis has not disclosed whether or not he will be watching the World Cup Final on Sunday with Pope Emeritus Benedict. He did however call for a “pause for peace” before the match to honor and remember victims of war and poverty. When asked directly if either pope would be watching the match, Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi said no decision had been made yet, but admitted: “Let’s see. The current situation is unique.”

Lombardi did not believe that Benedict who is now 87, but still lives on the Vatican grounds in seclusion, would watch the match due to the fact that its local air time is at 9pm.

Pope Francis however is expected to watch at least the first half of the match as his bedtime is around 10pm. Both popes have met the superstars of their respected teams. In March of 2012, Benedict met with Germany’s Miroslav Klose at the Vatican, and the world’s first ever Latin American pope, met with Lionel Messi in August of 2013 before an international friendly in Rome between Argentina and Italy.

Recently, a video was released from RomeReports.com where Pope Francis explains his meeting with a Brazilian woman who asked him to stop praying for Argentina to win the World Cup. Brazil and Argentina are bitter rivals when it comes to the beautiful sport, and if Argentina hoists the cup on Brazilian soil on Sunday, it would certainly be a nightmarish end to the country’s 64 year World Cup dream.

As the world speculates on if the two popes will watch the game together and if they do will they pray for their teams, social media has spawned the hashtag: #HolyWar as Twitter, facebook, YouTube and Instagram are ripe with memes, jokes, photos and more. Here are some of the best that we found:

Will they face off in the championship round? If so who will win? #battleofthepopes pic.twitter.com/i9ASBpCHHL - oyyam (@DiosavOYYAM) July 9, 2014