Pope Leo proves his Chicago White Sox fandom by sending special gift to World Series-winning team legend

Pope Leo XIV proved his Chicago White Sox fandom once again as he sent a special gift to team legend Paul Konerko.

The pope, whose name is Robert Prevost, grew up in the Chicago area and even attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series in 2005, when the White Sox faced the Astros.

He also sent White Sox fans wild when he wore the team's cap at the Vatican last month.

And this weekend, Leo continued to show support for his favorite baseball team as he sent an autographed custom jersey to Konerko, who was in Chicago along with his ex-teammates to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their championship.

The jersey had both Konerko and Pope Leo's names on it, as well as No. 14 - which was the first baseman's uniform number during his career.

Konerko held the jersey up ahead of the White Sox' game on Saturday after being presented with it by Cardinal Blase Cupich.

ESPN's Kevin Clark had previously joked on X that Prevost wanted to be the 14th of a papal name because of his affinity for Konerko.

And after Konerko received his gift from the Pontiff, Clark re-visited his previously tongue-in-cheek theory.

'Uhhhhhhh guys,' he wrote as he posted a screenshot of his previous post.

The world was stunned on May 8 when Prevost was elected as the first American-born pope.

And his White Sox fandom soon came to light, as a video of him at the 2005 World Series with a friend was unearthed.

His brother, John, also mentioned after the election in an interview with WGN-TV that the newly-chosen pope was a longtime White Sox fan - and not a Cubs fan as had been rumored.

'He was never ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from,' Prevost told the network. 

'He was always a Sox fan. Our mother was a Cubs fan. I don't know, maybe that clued in there and our dad was a Cardinals fan, so I don't know where all that came from.

Following the pregame gift presentation on Saturday, the White Sox went on to lose 6-2 to the Guardians.

They'll face Cleveland again on Sunday.