The newly elected Pope Leo XIV made history Thursday as the first ever American pontiff, with his Chicago roots promptly sparking depate in the sporting circles of the city.
The Chicago Cubs quickly shared a picture across their social media channels celebrating what they thought was their new famous fan.
‘Hey, Chicago. He’s a Cubs fan!’ a message on a jumbotron at the iconic Wrigley Field read on Thursday. The Cubs shared it on X with the caption: ‘Congratulations to Pope Leo XIV!’
But it soon emerged they had made an embarrassing error.
‘Yeah he was never, ever a Cubs fan, I don’t know where that came from,’ Robert Prevost’s brother John told WGN news.
‘He was always a Sox fan. Our mother was a Cubs fan, our dad was a Cardinals fan. I don’t know where that all came from.’
The Chicago Cubs wrongly claimed that Pope Leo XIV is a fan of their baseball team
Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, grew up in Chicago as a fan of the White Sox
The Sox repsonded themselves with a post on X, sharing the clip of Leo’s brother with a caption that read: ‘Well, would you look at that… Congratulations to Chicago’s own Pope Leo XIV
The White Sox will be hoping that the power of prayer can help turn their season around because so far, 2025 has followed 2024 in being a miserable campaign.
They ended 2024 losing 121 games and winning just 41, ending the year rock bottom of the AL Central.
It’s not much better so far this year, back in the familiar spot of last in the AL Central with a record of 10-28.
The Cubs, meanwhile, lead the National League Central with a 22-16 record – one of the best in Major League Baseball at this early stage of the season.
The 69-year-old Prevost, meanwhile, appeared in front of jubilant followers on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, telling them ‘Peace be with you’ and offering a reminder of God’s unconditional love.
Crowds had been joyously flags and chanting ‘Habemus Papam’ – the Latin for ‘we have a Pope’ – since white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel, indicating that cardinals had elected a new pontiff.
Prevost follows Pope Francis, who died aged 88 on Easter Monday last month.
Prevost was born in Chicago and began studying to become a priest with the Catholic Church at the age of 18, before going on to graduate from Villanova University in Pennsylvania with a degree in mathematics four years later.
