One of the debates swirling around Pope Leo XIV’s papacy doesn’t deal with religion at all.
Instead, it deals with sports, specifically the debate on whether someone born in Chicago roots for the Cubs or the White Sox.
The Cubs even went as far as posting on Wrigley Field’s famous marquee, “Hey Chicago, He’s a Cubs Fan!” shortly after he was voted for by the College of Cardinals.
Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV! pic.twitter.com/s02yDDegQd
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 8, 2025
The White Sox also posted on their scoreboard, “Hey Chicago, He’s a Sox Fan!”
The debate wasn’t helped by the pope born in Dolton, on the South Side of Chicago, meaning he would likely be a Sox fan due to geography. But his mother was a Cubs fan and his father was a Cardinals fan.
So which is it?
His brother, John Prevost, told WGN that the pope “was always a Sox fan.”
Prevost also told CBS News Chicago that he and his brother went to Sox games when they were growing up, adding that his brother was a White Sox fan “as long as I’ve known him.”
“Yes, we did. Because really, from Dolton to Sox Park wasn’t that big of a deal, and of course we were both altar boys, so that was one of the rewards that we got was to go to a Sox game,” Prevost told the news station.
The Chicago Sun-Times published a photo of the pope at a Sox game. It wasn’t just any game either. He was at a 2005 World Series game against the Houston Astros. He had attended the game with close friend Ed Schmit. The pope officiated a family wedding in 2014, blessed the birth of a child when he was born early, and comforted Schmit and the family when the patriarch was dying of pancreatic cancer.
The now-pope is in the photo below or here, on the top left, on the phone.
The Chicago Sun-Times found a photo of Pope Leo, Robert Prevost, at the 2005 World Series against the Astros pic.twitter.com/oNcqpRC5Ry
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) May 9, 2025
MLB.com, said the White Sox released a statement about where Pope Leo’s fandom lies, writing, “Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields. 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.”
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