Pope Leo Rocks Chicago White Sox Hat at the Vatican

There’s no more debating it: Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago White Sox fan.

Pope Leo XIV fully embraced the White Sox this week by wearing the MLB team’s hat during an appearance at the Vatican on Wednesday. The Sox’s Instagram page shared the photo of the Pontiff donning the black Sox cap, which soon went viral.

“Pope Leo XIV representing his favorite squad,” the team wrote alongside the picture, adding a fire emoji to the caption.

Word quickly made it back to the team’s clubhouse that the pope put on the hat during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, according to MLB.com.

“I read something about that,” White Sox manager Will Venable told reporters before the team’s game on Wednesday night. “Yeah, I mean, it’s great. I love the support. Need it.”

The confirmation comes after a fierce debate in the Chicagoland area in the days after Cardinal Robert Prevost — a Dolton, Ill., native — was named the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church last month. The day of his election, ABC News seemingly misreported that Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, had grown up a Chicago Cubs fan during its live broadcast outside the Vatican.

The Cubs quickly seized on the report and put up a message on Wrigley Field’s famous marquee celebrating the pope’s reported fandom. However, as reporters began learning more about his suburban American background, it was revealed that Pope Leo XIV actually grew up a Sox fan — even attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series in person, where he was caught on camera during Fox’s broadcast at the time.

The Sox returned serve to their northside rivals and put up their own sign celebrating the pope’s real team of choice. Since then, the Sox’s social media has heavily leaned into the news about Pope Leo XIV, while fans soon began coming to games dressed as him.

On Wednesday, White Sox rookie reliever Grant Taylor even contemplated whether the pope knows who he is since he’s a fan. “The thought did come across,” Taylor told MLB.com. “I was joking with my family today, I was like, ‘I wonder if the pope knows my name.’ “

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With the White Sox no longer the worst team in the league after setting a modern MLB record with 121 losses last season, Pope Leo XIV smiled on Wednesday as he was photographed wearing the Sox hat at the Vatican.

“It’s pretty cool,” Taylor said. “Worldwide, baseball is growing a lot more. But in Europe, it’s not very big. So if he’s over there in the Vatican wearing a White Sox hat, maybe all of them will become White Sox fans. Grow the fanbase a little bit.”

The Sox are averaging less than 17,000 fans per game this season as they sit in last place in the American League, according to ESPN. That makes them fourth worst in attendance average in the MLB, ahead of only the Miami Marlins, the Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays — and the A’s and Rays currently play in minor league stadiums in the midst of construction on their home ballparks.

But perhaps a pope and a prayer are all the Sox need. Pope Leo XIV sold out the Sox’s ballpark for an event this coming Saturday where he is set to deliver a prerecorded video message on the stadium’s scoreboard during a mass on the field, according to local ABC 7.