When Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV (the first American-born Pope in history), the most pressing question on everyone's mind was whether the Windy City native was a Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox fan.
After endless rumors flew around in the ensuing days, Pope Leo's brother finally quashed all doubts and confirmed that the pontiff is, in fact, a member of the clan of the Pale Hose. There were even people pulling up receipts, showing sightings of His Holiness at the 2005 World Series.
Well, it turns out, with great fandom comes great trash talk, even for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
In a meeting with Mar Awa III, the leader of the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Pope Leo was gifted a Chicago Cubs jersey with his name (and number) stitched on the back.
The head of the Assyrian Church of the East “accidentally” gave Pope Leo XIV a Cubs jersey, and he doesn’t look happy about it. pic.twitter.com/tSHdOhlajv
— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) October 27, 2025
And lest anyone believe otherwise, this was no mere mixup. Awa III is a Chicago native himself and knows exactly what he was doing, as confirmed by his own social media post. They say confession is good for the soul, after all.
Pope Leo XIV may need to pray for 2026 White Sox
While the joke was made in good faith, it's not a stretch to say that Pope Leo is on the losing side of the crosstown rivalry right now.
The Cubs made the playoffs for the first time in five years in 2025, pushing the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers to five games in the NLDS before bowing out. Meanwhile, the White Sox mustered 60 wins while losing 100+ games for the third year in a row.
There are some bright spots for the Pope and all White Sox fans to look forward to, at least. Top prospects Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery made their respective MLB debuts and finished the year atop the White Sox in fWAR (1.9 for Teel, 2.7 for Montgomery). Meanwhile, Chase Meidroth looks like another keeper on the position player side of things, and the triumvirate of Shane Smith, Sean Burke, and Davis Martin all performed well in outsized roles in the rotation.
It's hard to imagine a scenario in which the White Sox usurp the Cubs in the at-large MLB hierarchy in 2026, but the outlook isn't totally bleak for the South Siders. Perhaps with a bit of divine love from His Holiness, Chicago's "other team" will shock onlookers with a breakout season next year.