Pope Leo XIV, now the successor of St. Peter, leads the 1.4-billion-strong Catholic Church in a sacred role that few others will ever hold. Because of that, some supremely relatable facts about the new pope have emerged.
The Chicago-born Augustinian missionary, Robert Prevost, was elected on May 8, becoming the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the church. Leo, 69, spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops before succeeding Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Much has also surfaced about his Chicago sports fandom, and which of the two hometown baseball teams he supports.
[MORE: Cubs or White Sox fan? Sports world embraces Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV]
Initially said to have cheered for the Chicago Cubs, the pope’s brother, John Prevost, set the record straight about Leo’s Major League Baseball allegiance in an interview with WGN-TV. The pope is in fact a Chicago White Sox fan.
“He was never ever a Cubs fan, so I don’t know where that came from,” John said, adding that the confusion might stem from the fact their mother’s side of the family were North Siders and Cubs fans. “He was always a Sox fan.”
In fact, he’s supported the White Sox for at least the last two decades, which was proven when footage of Leo cheering the White Sox on during the 2005 World Series surfaced recently.
The White Sox led the Houston Astros 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, when FOX cameras panned to a seemingly ordinary fan. That man is now the Pope. But on that fateful day, he looked like any White Sox fan would in that moment — nervous, eager for the game-winning out.
Fittingly, Leo’s prayers were answered. White Sox reliever Bobby Janks closed out the Astros in Game 1 and Chicago went on to sweep Houston and win the 2005 World Series.
The White Sox haven’t experienced many blessings since that year. They went 99-63 in 2005, their best record in the 21st Century, and won the World Series for the first time since 1917. Chicago won a franchise-low (in the 162-game era) 41 games in 2024, and sit at 10-28 this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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