Smiling White Sox fan Pope Leo quips 'great things happen in Chicago'

Pope ​Leo's beloved Chicago White ​Sox may have pulled ‌off a ​miracle this year, making Major League Baseball's playoffs for the first time since 2021. ‌But the longtime fan of the South Siders won't reveal if he called on a little help from on high.

"No comment," Leo ‌told a journalist when asked on Friday if a little ‌papal intervention with God was involved in the team's second-best standing in the central division of the American League. But the first US pope added, with a ⁠smile: "Great ​things happen ⁠in Chicago."

Leo, born as Robert Prevost in America's second city, is a devoted ⁠fan of the Sox. Shortly after being elected as pope in May ​2025, video emerged of Prevost rooting for the team in ⁠the 2005 World Series, the last time they won baseball's top prize. The pope, ⁠undertaking ​a weekend visit to France, was asked about the team's 2026 season on his flight from Rome to Paris.

The Sox ⁠clinched their playoff berth on Thursday, with a 9-1 victory over ⁠the Kansas ⁠City Royals. Vatican officials did not comment on whether anyone had seen a TV on in Leo's ‌apartment in ‌the apostolic palace that night. (Reporting ​by Joshua McElwee)