Pope Leo XIV, the newest pontiff, first waved to the faithful from the balcony on St. Peter’s. But as the world hailed the first American pope, the sports world had a different question. Formal Cardinal Robert Prevost was a Chicago guy. For whom had he done The Wave at a stadium originally and for whom had he prayed to win, the Cubs or the White Sox? Photo © Marco Iacobucci | Dreamstime.com
Pope Leo XIV, the newest pontiff, has made his first appearance, waving to the faithful from the balcony on St. Peter’s Square.
But as the religious world hailed the first American pope, the sports world had a big question. The former Cardinal Robert Prevost was a Chicago guy. For whom had he done The Wave at a stadium originally, and for whom had he prayed to win: the Cubs or the White Sox?
It was a question that consumed the sports-writing world for all of about 15 minutes until someone thought to reach out to John Prevost, the big guy’s brother.
And according to his brother, Pope Leo XIV is loyal to the South Side. John Prevost revealed his brother is a White Sox fan in an interview with WGN TV.
“He was never, ever a Cubs fan. So I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan,” John Prevost said.
In fact, the Web is absolutely alive with this footage of the (then) future pope cheering on his beloved Sox.
But the new pope, in his opening address, spoke of peace and of building bridges, among other things – and that could speak to the fractious nature of sports fans.
According to USA TODAY, the pope's sibling said they grew up in a split household, but not with the White Sox. Their mother was a Cubs fan and their father was a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Oh, and here’s something else to think about. According to the New York Times, Pope Leo XIV loves hoops, especially Villanova hoops. After all, he’s a graduate of Villanova University.
In fact, that’s the word from Villanova’s Rev. Robert P. Hagan, Villanova’s senior athletic director and long-serving team chaplain for Villanova’s football and basketball program, who has known the pontiff for nearly 30 years.
He said the future pope, Robert Prevost, was “a very, very smart man. Really gifted, very articulate, speaks multiple languages, has traveled the world as a missionary.” He was also “a very relatable, warm, friendly, approachable friend,” someone familiarly known as Father Bob.
More from the New York Times included this information:
[Pope Leo and Hagan] have kept in touch via email and text (yes, the Pope texts) over the years, and Hagan said Pope Leo would weigh in on the Wildcats’ wins when they saw each other.
“We’ve had a lot of fun watching the Knicks because Jalen (Brunson) and Josh (Hart) and Donte (DiVincenzo) was there and now Mikal (Bridges) is there,” Hagan said. “I think that Pope Leo will still keep an eye on the Nova Knicks. I think he’ll still keep an eye on the Wildcats, and I think he’ll be very proud of not just who they are but the way that they play with a certain spirit and unselfishness.”
News of the Pope’s basketball allegiance even reached Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who quipped about the ex-Nova players on his team: “Now they can be forgiven for their sins.”
Yahoo! Sports notes, “Prevost is a supporter of St. Rita, a high school on the Southwest Side of Chicago. He retweeted a post about the team's appearance in the Illinois state championship in 2014 and served as a substitute physics teacher at the school in the past, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.”
And Hagan said Pope Leo enjoys tennis (maybe he'll use the Vatican's secret tennis court!) and reading, though his stance on pizza has not yet been revealed. He has plenty of other interests, including Wordle and Words with Friends.
“I also understand that he likes to cook,” Hagan added. “He would often cook for the brothers and they found him to be a good cook.”
No matter which baseball team he supports, people will likely be curious about the pontiff’s thoughts on the Chicago Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams.
We’re still waiting for official word but Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is one of the latest figures in the sports world to weigh in. Williams needed just two words to express his apparent excitement: "Daaaaaa Pope," he posted on X, along with a cartoon of the new pontiff wearing shades and surrounded by Bears fans.
Needless to say, the meme world has been going wild.
There’s no telling how well Pope Leo XIV will be able to keep up with the scores on any sports, as the papacy consumes a great deal of time. The late Pope Francis, an avid soccer fan, had one of his guards provide him with regular updates on scores but he did not watch television, according to reports.
Prevost already will be featured on a Topps collectible card, by the way. (Don't miss the white spoke behind him.)
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