Pope Leo XIV Confirms White Sox Fandom After Being Elected as 1st American Pope

The mystery of Pope Leo XIV's MLB fandom has been solved.

Amid conflicting reports about which Windy City team the new pope roots for, Chico Harlan of the Washington Post noted Friar Joseph Farrell texted Pope Leo and received a one-word response confirming that he's a Chicago White Sox fan.

John Prevost, the new pope's brother, told WGN that Pope Leo XIV has "never" been a Chicago Cubs fan. There is also a photo of him wearing White Sox attire while attending a game during the 2005 World Series when the Pale Hose were playing the Houston Astros.

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, was born in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1955. He also worked in the city as a part-time math teacher at Mendel High School and substitute physics teacher at St. Rita High School after receiving his undergraduate degree from Villanova.

Prevost became the first American-born pope when he was elected by a group of 133 cardinals in conclave. It took four ballots for him to receive the two-thirds majority vote required for election.

There has been no indication yet that the White Sox will pursue a blessing from the new pope, but it certainly wouldn't hurt if they could get one based on the current state of the franchise.

The White Sox are the second-worst team in MLB right with a 10-28 record, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies (6-31). They just got swept in a four-game series by the Kansas City Royals, including a 10-0 defeat on Thursday.

Chicago's .263 winning percentage this season is actually an improvement from 2024, when it set a modern-era record with 121 losses (.253 winning percentage).

Even though the White Sox are still struggling to make significant forward progress, there are signs of hope for the future. They entered this season with the third-ranked farm system in MLB and six top-100 prospects.

When you combine that with the new pope being in their corner, things suddenly may be looking up for the White Sox, who have been desperate for anything to be excited about.