Mar Awa III challenges León XIV with a shirt from the Chicago Cubs, rivals of his team

His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, traveled to Rome this week to participate in a ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of Our Agethe Church’s statement on building relationships with non-Christian religions.

During his stay in the Eternal City, His Holiness Mar Awa III held a private audience this Monday with Pope Leo XIV, with whom he shares the same city of origin: Chicago.

At the meeting, the Pontiff urged to seek “full communion” between both churches, proposing the path of synodality. However, it seems that this communion does not extend to the sporting field.

The leader of the Assyrian Church is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, while Leo XIV supports their eternal rivals, the White Sox.

In his luggage, Mar Awa III did not forget to include a team t-shirt, which he gave to Pope Leo XIV as a gift at the end of his audience in the Vatican.

At the moment of exchanging gifts, the Cubs fan could be seen with a satisfactory smile while the Holy Father resignedly held the dark blue shirt with the name “Leo” and the number 14 in red.

Mar Awa III posted a photo of the moment on his Instagram profile, where he wrote: “During the gift exchange, I presented the Pope with a personalized Cubs jersey and cap (in honor of all our neighbors north of Chicago). Needless to say, the Pope loved the gift,” he said wryly.

Pope Leo XIV has shown his love for baseball on several occasions, starring in funny moments that quickly went viral on social networks.

On one of his usual popemobile tours of St. Peter’s Square before the General Audience, he surprised everyone by spontaneously joining a group of pilgrims chanting “White Sox!”, making it clear who his team is.