Robert Francis Prevost, elected Thursday as the first pope from the United States, will soon have the opportunity to declare where he stands on some of the church's most pressing topics.
But first, many wanted to know his leanings on a different topic. Is Prevost, a Chicagoan, a fan of the Cubs or the White Sox?
Prevost’s brother John told NBC Chicago that, contrary to speculation, his brother rooted for the city's South Side team.
“Whoever said Cubs on the radio got it wrong," John Prevost said. "It’s Sox."
The question of his rooting interests was one of immediate fascination as soon as Prevost was announced Thursday as the newest leader of the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
Within hours of his election, the Cubs — 41 years after longtime broadcaster Harry Caray celebrated an unlikely victory by shouting, "The good Lord wants the Cubs to win!" — claimed Prevost as one of their own on social media.
Their mother was a Cubs fan, having been raised on Chicago's North Side, famously the home of the Cubs' Wrigley Field, John Prevost told WGN-TV. Their father, he added, was a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Yet the man who would go on to become pope had a different belief system, his brother said.
"He was never, ever a Cubs fan," John Prevost told WGN.
The White Sox, who have had little go right on the field in recent seasons, were quick to play up a rare bit of good news, saying they had already sent a jersey and a hat to the Vatican.
“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields,” the team told NBC Chicago. “Some things are bigger than baseball, but in this case, we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican.”
Though the new pope spent decades of his adult life working in Peru, his Chicago roots led to speculation and jokes on social media about his sports leanings.
Though faith has dominated Prevost's life, sports have also played a role. Prevost, a 1977 graduate of Villanova University, retweeted in 2016 a post congratulating the university on its recent NCAA men's basketball national championship. And asked in a 2023 interview how he liked to spend his free time, he said, "I consider myself quite the amateur tennis player.
"Since leaving Peru I have had few occasions to practice, so I am looking forward to getting back on the court," he said. "Not that this new job has left me much free time for it so far."
Neither will his new one.
