The leader of the Assyrian Church is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, while the Roman Pontiff supports their eternal rivals, the White Sox.<\/p>\n
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 Nostra Aetate, the Church\u2019s declaration on building relations with non-Christian religions.<\/p>\n
During his stay in the Eternal City, Mar Awa III, born David Royel to Assyrian immigrant parents, met Oct. 27 with Pope Leo XIV in a private audience. The two share the same hometown of Chicago.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the Pope urged the two churches to seek \u201cfull communion,\u201d proposing synodality as the path to achieving it.<\/p>\n
However, it seems that this communion does not extend to the realm of sports.<\/p>\n
The leader of the Assyrian Church is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, while the Roman Pontiff supports their eternal rivals, the White Sox.<\/p>\n
In his luggage, Mar Awa III made sure to include a Cubs jersey, which he presented to Pope Leo XIV as a gift at the end of his audience at the Vatican.<\/p>\n
During the gift exchange, the Cubs fan wore a satisfied smile, while the Holy Father, with an expression of resignation, held up the dark-blue jersey with the name \u201cLeo\u201d and the No. 14 printed in red.<\/p>\n
Mar Awa III posted a photo of the moment on his Instagram profile, where he wrote: \u201cDuring the exchange of gifts, I presented the pope with a customized Cubs jersey and hat (in honor of all of our north side Chicagoans). Needless to say, the pope enjoyed his gift very much,\u201d he recounted with evident irony.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV has demonstrated his love for baseball on several occasions. During one of his usual tours through St. Peter\u2019s Square in the popemobile before a general audience, he surprised onlookers by spontaneously joining a group of pilgrims in chanting \u201cWhite Sox!\u201d, making it clear which team he supports.<\/p>\n
Chicago\u2019s North Side Cubs have annually played the city\u2019s South Side White Sox in the interleague \u201cCrosstown Classic.\u201d As of July of this year, the Cubs have an all-time edge of 77-75 over the White Sox since the series began, Yahoo News reported.<\/p>\n
This story <\/i>was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA\u2019s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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