The sports activities loyalties of Pope Leo XIV turned a subject of dialog virtually as quickly because the white smoke emerged from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
Elected on Thursday, Robert Prevost is the primary pope from the US within the historical past of the Catholic Church. The Chicago-born missionary, who took the title Leo XIV, attended Villanova College close to Philadelphia, the place he obtained a Bachelor of Science in 1977.
The election of the brand new pope coincides with a trio of former Villanova gamers — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges — main the New York Knicks on an NBA playoff run. It did not take lengthy for a photoshopped image of the 4 of them collectively to point out up on social media.
The Knicks erased 20-point deficits in successful Video games 1 and a couple of in opposition to the defending champion Boston Celtics within the Jap Convention semifinals.
Now followers are praying the mixture of the Villanova guys and the brand new pope may help the group to its first NBA title since 1973.
It was initially reported that the brand new pope was a Cubs fan. The group congratulated Pope Leo XIV in a submit on X that had an image of Wrigley Area’s iconic marquee with the message: HEY, CHICAGO. HE’S A CUBS FAN!
However his brother, John Prevost, set the report straight in an interview with WGN-TV. The pope is a White Sox fan.
“He was never ever a Cubs fan, so I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan,” John mentioned, including that the confusion may stem from the very fact their mom’s aspect of the household have been North Siders and Cubs followers.
The White Sox posted a clip from the brother’s WGN interview on X, together with an image of the Charge Area videoboard with the message: HEY CHICAGO, HE’S A SOX FAN! The submit learn “Well, would you look at that… Congratulations to Chicago’s own Pope Leo XIV.”
“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields,” the White Sox mentioned in a media assertion. “Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican. A pinstripes White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at his ballpark.”
The TV interview had White Sox followers questioning concerning the pope’s skill to persuade proprietor Jerry Reinsdorf to promote the last-place group.
Lengthy-suffering Bears followers weighed in, too.
One remarked on X that Chicago developed a pope earlier than the Bears developed a quarterback. One other mentioned the Bears now have a direct line to God. And one other mentioned the Bears now not shall be on the improper aspect of Hail Marys, a reference to Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels’ 52-yard Hail Mary completion to Noah Brown to beat the Bears in October.
“Daaaaaa Pope,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams posted on X on Thursday night time.
