A football ball ‘crowned’ with barbed wi

A football ball ‘crowned’ with barbed wire is the main liturgic element on the altar at the ‘Maradonian Church-The Hand of God’ (R) 29 October, 2007 before midnight in Parque Leloir, outskirts of Buenos Aires, before the marriage –with the ball as ‘witness’– of two couples of ‘followers’ from Jalapa, Mexico. Every October 30th the fans of football legend Argentine Diego Armando Maradona gather in the temple to celebrate the ‘Maradonian Christmas’, the birthday of the living idol, who makes 47 on Tuesday. The church was founded in 1998 in the suburbs of Rosario, 310km north from Buenos aires, and counts with 60.000 followers in 54 countries. The ‘Maradonians’ consider that we are living the year 47 DD (Despues de Diego=After Diego). AFP PHOTO/ALEJANDRO PAGNI (Photo credit should read ALEJANDRO PAGNI/AFP/Getty Images)