Leo XIV

Robert Francis Prevost

• School Villanova University
• High School St. Augustine Seminary High School

• Born September 14, 1955 in Chicago, IL USA

Biographical Information

Pope Leo XIV became the first pope born in the United States when he succeeded the late Pope Francis on May 8, 2025. He was born Robert Francis Prevost on the south side of Chicago, IL where he was known to friends and family as Rob or Bob, and studied for the priesthood first at a seminary school in Michigan, then went to Villanova University where he majored in mathematics and science before being ordained a priest in 1981. Over the following years, he shuttled between Chicago and Peru, where he performed missionary work and headed a seminary school. It was in Peru that he was ordained a bishop in 2015. He was promoted to cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, and elected to succeed him at the conclave that followed his passing two years later.

When he was elected pope, taking the name Leo, a lot of interest was expressed about his U.S. roots, even if most of his church career had taken place in Peru, whose citizenship he had taken prior to being named a bishop. Both Chicago baseball teams wanted to lay claim to him as a fan, but it quickly became clear that his heart was truly with the Chicago White Sox. This was proven incontrovertibly when a picture of his attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series and wearing a White Sox cap was extracted from television footage of the game. The White Sox were very proud of having such a distinguished supporter and rapidly unveiled a mural in his honor on the concourse of Rate Field, where he is depicted blessing the crowd, with a smaller picture showing him attending that World Series game. CBS News correspondent Chris Livesay presented him with a bat that had once belonged to White Sox great Nellie Fox, a gift that the Pope appreciated and gave in turn to the Vatican Museums to be displayed among other remarkable and unusual gifts offered to him and his predecessors over the centuries. He has also been photographed wearing a White Sox cap with his priestly vestments. His favorite player at the time of the World Series title was Paul Konerko, who coincidentally wore number 14 in his long career with the Pale Hose. Konerko arranged to have a special signed version of his jersey, featuring both his name and that of Pope Leo above the 14, delivered to the Holy See in May of 2026.

Given a bit of advance warning, the White Sox were able to organize a proper papal promotion on August 11, 2026 by giving away a replica papal hat in the team's colors (a mitre, to give it its proper name) to fans attending that night's game. The promotion was originally only intended for a small number of fans buying a special ticket to that game, but after others rightly pointed out that this went against the pope's preaching of equality among humans, it was extended to all fans attending the game.

Further Reading

• Theo DeRosa: "Pope Leo receives his signed Konerko jersey at long last", mlb.com May 20, 2026. [1]
• Jeffrey Lutz: "The new pope was at the 2005 World Series", mlb.com, May 9, 2025. [2]
• Scott Merkin: "'He's a great guy': Pope Leo XIV honored by Sox, loved ones with Rate Field mural", mlb.com, May 20, 2025. [3]
• Scott Merkin: "Everything you need to know about the White Sox Pope Hat giveaway", mlb.com, April 11, 2026. [4]
• Brian Murphy: "What to give the pope who has everything? A White Sox legend's bat, of course!", mlb.com, November 29, 2025. [5]