Chicago White Sox host pope hat promotion night at the ballpark

 

Holy sellout! White Sox fans flock to ‘Pope Hat’ night honoring Illinois native Pope Leo XIV

The White Sox's long-awaited "Pope Hat" promotion took place on a humid Chicago night on Tuesday. Melissa Tamez / Associated Press

By Jon Greenberg

Aug. 12, 2026

CHICAGO — It’s not every day you see baseball fans in religious vestments drinking beer and eating hot dogs, but at Rate Field on Tuesday, the holy and the profane met to celebrate the Chicago White Sox’s No. 1 fan at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV.

The Sox’s long-awaited “Pope Hat” promotion took place on a hot, humid night in Chicago, as the White Sox faced the Cincinnati Reds and the team gave away almost 40,000 miter hats emblazoned with its logo and lappets on the back.

The White Sox sold out the ballpark (announced attendance: 38,113), and the hats were going for around $70 on eBay during the game, which was more than the going rate for tickets on the secondary market ahead of first pitch.

Ever since Robert Prevost, a diehard White Sox fan from south suburban Dolton, Ill., was elected to serve as the leader of the Catholic Church last year, the team hasn’t been shy about hyping the connection. Chicago put up a mural in the ballpark, held a Mass there and has sent more emissaries bearing gifts to the Vatican than some small countries.

“Any time we get to celebrate the Pope and his fandom of the White Sox is something we’ll lean into,” Chicago manager Will Venable said.

The hat giveaway was the brainchild of White Sox marketing executive Mike Downey. It quickly grew in size and scope after its initial announcement in early April.

“He’s the one who really championed this hat concept,” White Sox CMO Brooks Boyer said of Downey. “It started as a 2,500 special ticket promo giveaway. And then as they went on sale, they went right away, and he came in and said, ‘I think I can get the vendor to do 500 more.’ So, we were going to go to 3,000. Once those went, he came in and said, ‘We’ve got to go to 40,000.’ The only anxiety was, can we get 40,000 here by the time of this day? So as soon as we figured out, we could, it’s been a lot of fun to be part of.”

How big was this moment? Well, Boyer had to address reporters in front of a bank of microphones in the dugout after Venable.

The installation of the first American Pope last spring hasn’t gotten old in Chicago, and on Tuesday, the mood around the ballpark was joyful. There were more than enough hats to go around, and many fans rocked them on a muggy night. Some dressed up in costumes and even more wore bootleg “Chicago Pope” T-shirts. The team put up “Leo Knows” signs about White Sox players, a twist on the famous “Bo Knows” Nike campaign.

Pope Leo was everywhere at the White Sox game. Jon Greenberg / The Athletic

“Obviously we want to be respectful of the position and there was a lot of chatter about a pope bobblehead and things like that, and we decided not to pursue something along those lines,” Boyer said. “But the fact that the Pope is an identified White Sox fan, we’re certainly proud of it. We put the mural up where he was sitting in the World Series. It is certainly a point of pride for the Chicago White Sox and White Sox fans, and we’re not going to run from it.”

Because so many people bring him gifts, Pope Leo has more Chicago sports memorabilia than a diehard Grabowski with a man cave. He’s certainly the first Pope to be photographed wearing the same black Sox hat that rappers made famous in the 1990s. Did he know this promotion was going on? How could he not?

“There have certainly been people that have talked to him that claim that he’s following everything that’s going on with the White Sox,” Boyer said. “Pope Leo, if you’re watching, I hope he knows about it. Obviously, we want this to be something that’s very respectful to him and connect him with some of his roots.”

Former White Sox pitcher Donn “The Pope” Pall was a special guest Tuesday night, and Sister Mary Jo Sobieck, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield who went viral for her first pitch in 2018, made a return appearance. Father Tom Hurley and Pat McGann, comedian and White Sox fan, led a blessing after the fifth inning. The team raised money for the Midwest Augustinians, which was Prevost’s order in Chicago.

So what would Pope Leo think about all of this?

“I think he’d enjoy it,” Sobieck said. “I think he would say it’s bringing a lot of people out. He’s all about community and having people share things. You get people together, and you don’t know where it leads. It leads to friendship, depth of conversation and all of that. I think he’d be game.”

If he has been following along from Vatican City, Pope Leo has to be enjoying this White Sox season. Chicago has been in first place (or within a game) in the American League Central since early June, a far cry from the last three seasons, when the Sox were one of the worst teams in baseball. In 2024, of course, they set a modern-day baseball record with 121 losses. Now, the Sox (61-57) could make the playoffs and even get a bye out of the wild-card round.

Chicago’s mascot, Southpaw, also took part in the celebration of Pope Leo on Tuesday night. Melissa Tamez / Associated Press

Has Pope Leo pulled some favors?

“I’ve been asked that question quite a bit: Is there any sort of divine intervention going on with this team this year?And I just said ‘we accept,'” Boyer said.

While the Sox took an early four-run lead, any blessings from above were washed away by a bullpen meltdown in the eighth inning. The White Sox lost to the Reds, 5-4, in 10 innings. Even a Pope’s goodwill can only go so far. In this case, perhaps, the Sox could’ve used the spirit and the right arm of the other Pope, Pall, a reliever who had a 3.45 ERA in six years with Chicago.

Jon Greenberg is a columnist for The Athletic based in Chicago. He was also the founding editor of The Athletic. Before that, he was a columnist for ESPN and the executive editor of Team Marketing Report.

A baseball, a rosary, White Sox fans, the Pope

 

How a baseball rosary found its way to Pope Leo XIV

written by John Knebels

During a papal audience at the Vatican June 24, 2026, former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski presents Pope Leo XIV with “the Ball” -- from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)

(OSV News) — About two weeks after what he calls the most surreal moment of his life, Kevin Workman remains in awe.

That’s no embellishment. After all, imagine being a humble noncelebrity living a quiet life as a devoted family man and suddenly realizing that Pope Leo XIV actually knows your name and possesses something you created just for him.

“It’s just amazing,” Workman told OSV News. “Absolutely blown away.”

Sports rosaries

Workman, a 65-year-old human resources manager who resides in New Haven, Indiana, became a Catholic in 1981. He married his wife, Julie, in 1982, and together they have raised eight children and welcomed 19 grandchildren, with No. 20 due in March.

Seven years ago, Workman began making rosaries as a hobby, giving them away at his parish, St. Peter’s, on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. He later expanded his craft by learning to make wire rosaries and eventually began selling them online, where Notre Dame fans became some of his most devoted customers.

“They’ve been sold to every state in the country,” Workman said.

Earning some spending money was never the main objective.

“I feel that the state of the world today needs many, many prayers, and the rosary is the most powerful prayer,” Workman said. “I feel it has become a mission of mine that has developed through opportunities and grace.”

A special commission

Then, on April 18, came the request of his life.

“Catholic Athletes for Christ” commissioned Workman to create a Chicago White Sox-themed rosary intended specifically for the pope. After a few arm pinches to assure himself that he wasn’t dreaming, Workman immediately and emphatically embraced the assignment.

On June 24, Workman’s meticulously completed work reached the Vatican through a visit by former Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Along with presenting Workman’s rosary, Pierzynski gifted the pope — an ardent White Sox fan — the baseball from the final out of Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.

Then known simply as Father Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo had attended the White Sox’s 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros in person. Four days later, on Oct. 26, 2005, he celebrated his beloved White Sox’s first World Series championship since 1917.

Workman said he was “in tears” when he first learned the rosary had reached the pope.

“This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened in my little world,” Workman said.

White Sox fan and pope

After his meeting with the pope, Pierzynski spoke with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and recounted the experience.  “I know he was at the game. It was just sitting on my wall,” said Pierzynski, a colleague of Rosenthal’s at Fox Sports and the Foul Territory Network. “I was like, ‘It’s better at the Vatican with him than sitting on my wall.’ I figured it was the perfect thing.”

Pope Leo reacted with visible excitement after receiving the baseball from Pierzynski.

“Oh my gosh,” Pierzynski said. “He was like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ He was like, ‘No way, this is the ball?’ And he literally said, ‘I was at Game 2, too. But nobody knows that. They didn’t find me.'”

Before leaving, Pierzynski reminded the pope that the White Sox have enjoyed quite a resurgence after several disappointing seasons.

“It was kind of as I was walking away, I said, ‘Hey, White Sox are in first place,'” Pierzynski said. “He just looked at me and goes, ‘Oh, I’m watching and paying attention, don’t worry.’ And he just kind of smiled at me.”

Workman hopes to receive a photo of Pope Leo receiving the rosary. If not, the unfathomable course of events will suffice.

“To think the pope is going to be using my rosary to pray,” Workman said, “just boggles my mind.”

John Knebels writes for OSV News from suburban Philadelphia.

Pope Leo XIV also visits Sant'Angelo Lodigiano to the birthplace of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

 

Pope Leo XIV in Sant Angelo Lodigiano

Pope

Pope Leo: St Cabrini's mission to migrants remains urgent today

During a visit to the birthplace of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Pope Leo XIV recalls her devotion to the Sacred Heart and says her service to migrants remains a model for the Church in today's world.

Vatican News

Returning to the homeland of one of the Church's most celebrated missionaries, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on Saturday, presenting her life and legacy as a model for addressing one of the defining challenges of the modern world: migration.

The Pope's visit to Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, a small Lombard town south of Milan, formed part of his pastoral journey to nearby Pavia. The visit carried particular symbolic significance. It was here, in 1850, that Francesca Cabrini was born before embarking on a life of mission that would take her across the Atlantic and eventually to Chicago, where she died in 1917. Canonized in 1946, she became the first saint of the United States and was later named Patroness of Migrants.

Speaking during a moment of Eucharistic Adoration and the veneration of the relic of Cabrini's heart in the Church of St. Antonio Abate and Santa Francesca Cabrini, Pope Leo reflected on the saint's enduring relevance for the Church today.

"I am here to pay homage to Mother Cabrini," the Pope told the faithful gathered in the church, greeting local civic and religious authorities, including Bishop Maurizio Malvestiti of Lodi.

Connection with Chicago

St Cabrini spent the final years of her life in Chicago, the city where Pope Leo XIV was born and raised. Recalling this connection, he thanked the people of Sant'Angelo Lodigiano for their warm welcome and praised the deep affection that the local Church has always shown toward the Successor of Peter—an affection that Cabrini herself embodied through what he described as her singular devotion and obedience to the Pope.

As a young religious sister, Cabrini had dreamed of becoming a missionary in China, inspired by St. Francis Xavier. Yet when she sought guidance from Pope Leo XIII regarding the future direction of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the answer was unexpected. Rather than sending her eastward, the Pope instructed her to go "not to the East, but to the West."

At the time, millions of Italians were leaving their homeland in search of a better future overseas, particularly in the Americas. Encouraged by Leo XIII and by St. John Baptist Scalabrini, another great apostle of migrants, Cabrini recognised in this movement of peoples one of the great pastoral challenges of her age.

Reading the signs of the times

Pope Leo described this decision as a profound example of reading the "signs of the times." Cabrini understood that her missionary aspirations were to be fulfilled not where she had originally imagined, but where the need was greatest.

Turning his attention to the present context, the Pope noted that migration remains one of the most pressing realities facing societies and the Church, albeit in a form far more complex than in Cabrini's era.

"If Mother Frances were living today," he asked, "what would her missionary soul say? What would the Heart of Christ say to her heart?"

The answer, he continued, lies in the spiritual source that animated every aspect of Cabrini's life: the love of Christ revealed in His Sacred Heart.

The Pope recalled that Pope Francis dedicated his final encyclical, Dilexit Nos, to the human and divine love manifested in the Heart of Jesus. That same devotion, he said, was the driving force behind Cabrini's extraordinary missionary activity. Her countless journeys, schools, hospitals, orphanages and charitable institutions were not simply social works but expressions of a profound encounter with Christ's love.

The Heart of Jesus

The Pope also referenced his own apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, in which he highlighted Cabrini's witness alongside that of St. John Baptist Scalabrini. Quoting the saint's own words, he recalled her conviction that "no work would be too difficult, no land too distant, and no person too wounded" for the love of the Heart of Jesus.

Standing before the relic of Cabrini's heart, brought from the congregation's motherhouse in nearby Codogno, the Pope suggested that her charism remains strikingly relevant in an age marked by displacement, social fragmentation and new forms of poverty.

"What could be timelier than a missionary charism dedicated to the service of migrants?" he asked.

Appeal to young people

The Pope also directed a special appeal to young people, encouraging them to discover Cabrini through her writings, letters and travel journals. Those who encounter her story, he said, inevitably find themselves captivated by a woman who united contemplation and action in an extraordinary way.

Deeply rooted in prayer and immersed in the love of Christ, Cabrini developed a remarkable capacity for work and perseverance. Her life, Leo XIV noted, reflected the Pauline motto adopted by her congregation: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me".

Cabrini’s enduring witness

Turning to the local Church of Lodi, the Pope expressed the hope that it would continue to reflect the virtues embodied by its most famous daughter: love for Christ, missionary zeal, generosity toward the poor and fidelity to the Gospel.

He also linked Cabrini's witness to the Church's commitment to synodality, encouraging Catholics to walk together in unity while drawing upon the diverse gifts and ministries present within the Christian community.

As he concluded his address, Leo XIV offered a prayer for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the congregation founded by Cabrini in 1880 and now active worldwide. He urged the entire Church to look to the saint as an example of how to serve God's Kingdom amid history.

More than a century after her death, the Pope suggested, Cabrini's message remains unchanged. In a world still marked by migration, uncertainty and human suffering, the Church's response must continue to begin where hers did: in the transforming love of the Heart of Christ.

President Donald Trump continues misrepresenting the Pope, remains highly critical

 

Trump suggests pope unaware of Iran nuclear stance despite Leo's repeated calls for disarmament

The president has claimed, without evidence, that Pope Leo XIV wants the Middle Eastern country to develop nuclear armaments.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the National Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheatre in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia on May 25, 2026. | Credit: Kent Nishhimura/ AFP via Getty Images

By EWTN News Staff

May 31, 2026 at 8:31 AM ET

President Donald Trump warned against a nuclear‑armed Iran, reacting to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonʼs May 28 meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, where the mayor said they discussed U.S. immigration and the Iran conflict.

Trump posted, “Someone should explain to the Pope that the Mayor of Chicago is useless, and that Iran cannot have a Nuclear Weapon.” He also shared screenshots of the mayor’s posts with pictures of him and the Chicago-born pope sharing gifts and praying. Trump made the comments in a May 30 post on Truth Social.

The president has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Leo wants the Middle Eastern country to develop nuclear armaments.

Leo has rejected those allegations. On May 5 at Castel Gandolfo, he stated that the Church "has spoken for years against all nuclear weapons." Later, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin stated that the Holy See "has always worked, and will continue to work, on nuclear disarmament."

The White House and Chicago mayor’s office did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Trump sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV in April, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” and saying he is “not a fan” of the pope.

Trump expressed his disapproval of Leoʼs public statements denouncing the U.S.-led war on Iran. The Holy Father has repeatedly called for peace amid the ongoing conflict.

The pope has said he is “not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.”

Cardinal Cupich discusses Pope Leo's 1st encyclical

 

Cardinal Blase Cupich  (2025 Getty Images)

Pope

• interview
• Magnifica humanitas
• Blase Joseph Cupich
• United States
• Pope Leo XIV
• encyclical

Cardinal Cupich: Pope's encyclical 'a new lens' for Church's Social Doctrine

In an interview with Vatican News, the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, says Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical 'Magnifica humanitas' recognizes that "new technology has the potential to overtake our capacity to control it, and the Pope is giving us a wake-up call to seize this moment with urgency."

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

“This document provides us with a new lens to read the entire Social Doctrine of the Church.”

In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, reflected on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.

The Cardinal discussed the Pope’s warning against technological self-sufficiency, the social implications of artificial intelligence, and the relevance of Catholic social teaching in the digital age.

 

Read also

25/05/2026

Pope Leo’s ‘Magnifica humanitas’: AI must serve humanity not concentrate power

Cardinal Cupich, what do you see as the significance of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas?

The document’s principal contribution comes in the Holy Father’s challenge to humanity to make a choice: either to build the new Jerusalem or another Tower of Babel.

The first image is anchored in the story of the prophet Nehemiah, who brings families together after the exile. As the Pope writes, Nehemiah “assigned each of them a section of the wall to rebuild, listened to their concerns, coordinated their efforts and addressed any opposition.” This city comes to birth not through the initiative of one powerful individual, but through “the shared responsibility of all: men, women, priests, artisans, heads of households and young people all play a part. It is an undertaking with God at the center, which rebuilds relationships before rebuilding with stones.”

This is a harmony that arises when people assume their proper role and recognize that their strength comes from the Lord.

The Tower of Babel, on the other hand, represents a city aspiring to reach heaven without God’s blessing. Built on pride and claims of self-sufficiency, communication breaks down, and people no longer understand one another.

Chicago is globally recognized as a center of business, technology, innovation, and industry. What reaction are you seeing to this text, which also engages the tech world and calls for safeguarding humanity in the age of artificial intelligence?

The first news reports in Chicago focused on the reactions of university students, and we need to listen carefully to them because this new technology will have profound consequences for their future.

From those interviewed, students were very laudatory of the Holy Father and expressed a keen interest in reading the document.

Which of Pope Leo’s concerns in the text resonates most with you? What would you most like people in your Archdiocese to take away from it?

This document provides us with a new lens through which to read the entire Social Doctrine of the Church. The Pope makes this clear in the first chapter, where he offers a brilliant review of the initiatives of the Popes since Leo XIII. Pope Leo XIV is clear that this is Church doctrine and not simply a body of teaching that Catholics may choose to accept or ignore.

Thinking of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum, which Pope Leo XIV frequently references, do you believe the digital revolution can be compared, in terms of its scale and impact, to the Industrial Revolution?

There are similarities, but there are also important differences.

This new technology has the potential to overtake our capacity to control it, and the Pope is giving us a wake-up call to seize this moment with urgency.