Rev. Tom McCarthy Gives Pope Leo XIV White Sox Gift Box After 40,000 Hat Giveaway
Updated
Updated · Block Club Chicago · Aug 27
Rev. Tom McCarthy Gives Pope Leo XIV White Sox Gift Box After 40,000 Hat Giveaway
3 articles · Updated · Block Club Chicago · Aug 27
Summary
Wednesday’s Vatican meeting delivered Pope Leo XIV a White Sox keepsake box containing a custom “pope hat,” fan giveaway hats, a jersey, a signed baseball card and a letter from owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
40,000 “pope hats” had been handed out at a sold-out White Sox game earlier this month, where the team honored its most famous fan even as Chicago lost 5-4 to Cincinnati.
McCarthy said Leo enjoyed the gifts and joked, “Too bad we didn’t win the game,” underscoring that the Chicago-born pontiff still follows the Sox from Vatican City.
The celebration also featured a fifth-inning Sign of Peace and a $14,000 White Sox donation to the Midwest Augustinians, which McCarthy said reflected Leo’s message about sports building community.
McCarthy, a close friend of the first American pope, said Leo’s return to Chicago is a matter of when, not if.