The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) made a joke about Pope Francis, who is 88 years old and in critically ill condition "loving the Ashes" in response to his Ash Wednesday message. The ECB apologized and removed the controversial social media post. The incident happened on Ash Wednesday, a key day in the Christian calendar that marks the start of Lent, when the European Central Bank responded to a social media post by Pope Francis. In reference to England's Test series versus Australia, which is commonly referred to as "The Ashes," they said, "Even the Pope likes the Ashes."
"The #Ashes remind us of who we are, which does us good. It puts us in our place, smooths out the rough edges of our narcissism, brings us back to reality, and makes us more humble and open to one another. None of us is God; we are all on a journey," The Pope's post read.
Given the Pope's dire health, some people thought the joke was improper, while others thought it was humorous. Pope Francis has been in the hospital since February 14 because of double pneumonia and a complicated lung ailment, the Vatican had previously revealed. His prognosis is still unknown, despite claims that he is stable and receiving physical therapy.
"This was an ill-judged post and was swiftly deleted. We apologise for any offence," An ECB spokseperson said.
Pope Francis is well known for his frequent sharing of faith-based, wise, and uplifting messages with his followers on social media. However, ECB's effort at humor was quickly criticized online because it did not sit well with many of his supporters. The cricket board apologized and removed the post after receiving complaints, admitting that the comment was offensive.
As for the England cricket team, they had a disastrous outing in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 where they even failed to win even a single game. Due to which, Jos Buttler also stepped down as team's white-ball captain.