Baseball-White Sox or Cubs? Pope's Chicago baseball allegiance debated

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO (Reuters) -One question consuming Chicago baseball fans: What team does Pope Leo support?

The Windy City is notoriously split between White Sox and Cubs supporters, a rivalry between the South and North sides.

Father Gregory Sakowicz, rector of Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral, said he was in shock when Leo was named pope on Thursday.

"He was not on my short, short list," he said.

"I think he's going to be very strong on the immigrant, human rights and the care for the Earth."

Sakowicz said one burning question was whether the pontiff was a fellow fan of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, as he grew up near the team's stadium on the city's South Side, or of their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cubs.

"I heard he's a Cubs fan," he said. "Well, God Bless him."

The Cubs themselves claimed Leo as one of their own, posting on their X account congratulations and a photo of the iconic Wrigley Field sign with the words: "Hey, Chicago. He's a Cubs fan!"

"Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,'" Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement, referring to the song that fans belt out during the middle of the seventh inning.

Ricketts also invited the pope to deliver a "Sermon on the Mound" at the ballpark.

However, local Chicago television station WGN interviewed the pope's brother, John Prevost, on Thursday, who cleared up the matter: Pope Leo is a fan of the White Sox, he said.

"He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan," Prevost said in an excerpt of the interview shared by the White Sox on X.

"Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV's lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields," the White Sox said in a statement, referencing the location of the team's ballpark, Rate Field.

"Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we're glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican.

"A pinstripes White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at his ballpark."

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in ChicagoAdditional reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles and Heather Timmons in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry and Matthew Lewis)