Vice President JD Vance gifted Pope Leo XIV a Chicago Bears jersey during the Windy City native’s inaugural mass over the weekend.
Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and their wives met with the new pope during a private meeting. Vance, the first Catholic convert to serve as vice president, and Rubio led a delegation as Leo, the first U.S.-born leader of the church, formally assumed his role with a Mass on May 18 in St. Peter’s Square.
Leo, known outside of his papal position as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has dual citizenship after spending the better portion of his clerical life in Peru. And when the papal conclave selected the 69-year-old on May 8, Chicagoans did not shy away from telling the world about their native son, especially the city’s sports teams.
Pope Leo XIV: His debut wardrobe was different than Francis’. Here’s what changed.
‘Good choice’
When Vance presented the Chicago Bears jersey to Leo, the new pontiff said, “Good choice.”
“You can probably imagine that people in the United States are extremely excited about you,” Vance told Leo during their encounter.
Leo then thanked Vance for attending the mass and says he’s sure the two will meet again. The name on the back of the Bears jersey also reads “Pope Leo,” with “XIV” replacing where the player’s numbers are usually displayed.
Vance didn’t leave the Vatican empty handed, as Leo gifted him a bronze sculpture engraved with the words, written in Italian, “The peace is a fragile flower.”
While the Bears have not said anything publicly about the Leo, head coach Ben Johnson joked earlier in the month that he’d “heard rumblings” the pope was a fan of his hometown team, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Chicago White Sox honor Pope Leo after viral 2005 World Series video
Video of Leo attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, in which the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros in a four-game sweep, went viral soon after his selection. After being revealed as a White Sox fan, the MLB team unveiled a graphic installation on May 19 that pays tribute to the new pontiff and their last championship run, the Chicago Sun Times and Associated Press reported.
“If there was divine intervention, we accept,” Brooks Boyer, chief revenue and marketing officer for the White Sox, said at a news conference on May 19, per the Sun Times. “It’s great for us to look at someone from North America as the pope and to be able to understand that he took some of his time to spend at the ballpark.”
In addition to unveiling the graphic featuring Leo waving and the now-viral picture from the TV broadcast of the 2005 World Series, the White Sox announced that the seat (Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2) he sat in during the big game at Rate Field will be commemorated, the AP and Chicago Sun Times reported.
“When people come into the ballpark, it’s an interesting piece of our history and they’re going to want to see it,” Boyer said, per the AP. “So we’re going to be able to put something on that seat.”
Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JD Vance gifts Pope Leo custom Chicago Bears jersey: Watch video
