The lighthearted mutual fandom between Pope Leo XIV and the White Sox is a joyful reminder of why sports are so important.
Since the day he was elected in May 2025, sports fans around the world have taken an outsized interest in Pope Leo XIV’s sports fandoms. After all, while other popes appreciated sports, this pope hails from a place with a bit of a different sports culture.
Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II all greatly enjoyed sports, especially soccer. Pope Francis’ favorite club was San Lorenzo de Almagro, from his native Argentina, while Pope Benedict was a lifelong supporter of Germany’s Bayern Munich club. And was apparently an F1 fan. St. John Paul II, in addition to all his sports enthusiasm as a skier, made history as the only pope to witness a soccer match in a stadium as head of the global Church — an event that was part of the Jubilee of Athletes in 2000.
It checks out that the three previous popes loved football — or soccer, as Americans call it — since it stands as the single most popular sport in the world. But Pope Leo brought something different to the sports arena, having grown up in the U.S., where American football and baseball take the top spots.
It quickly became apparent he was a White Sox fan, and not just a casual one. He attended two of their 2005 World Series games and recently told a former Sox player that he’s “watching and paying attention” to the team, even amid his many papal responsibilities. It’s clear Pope Leo loves the White Sox.
And the White Sox have shown their affection for the pope right back, starting with the now-famous papal mural in their stadium, followed by the lighthearted “pope hat” night in August.
Now a Chicago priest made a personal delivery to the Vatican to give Pope Leo his own Sox “pope hat," albeit a fancier custom version.
“The White Sox Pope Hat has officially landed at the Vatican,” the team posted on social media:
Father Tom McCarthy, a Chicago native and graduate of St. Rita of Cascia High School, attended the “pope hat” game, where he received a check from Chicago White Sox Charities on behalf of Midwest Augustinian Province — the Pope’s own religious order. He then gave the custom “pope hat” to Pope Leo during an August 27 audience.
In the midst of this delightful mutual fandom between the Pope and the Sox, the team is having quite the turnaround. They currently sit in first place in the AL Central division, completely flipping the script after a historic 121-loss season just two years ago.
It’s fun to joke that their turnaround could be due to some papal prayers, but of course we know it doesn’t quite work that way. Yet this enjoyable “collaboration” between the White Sox and the Vatican is a reminder of why sports are so important.
Physical exercise and athletic competition build character and virtue, strengthening skills of perseverance and fortitude even as they strengthen the body. No wonder spiritual writers from the time of St. Paul — who wrote “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”— and onward through the years have used sports and athleticism as metaphors for the spiritual life.
In a recent interview, the Pope has hinted at a possible visit to the U.S., so it’s fair to wonder if he might make his way back to Rate Field someday. In the meantime, the mutual affection between Pope Leo and the Sox might just be the most enjoyable “collaboration” in sports right now.
