For decades, long-suffering Chicago White Sox fans grumbled that it would take divine intervention for their baseball team to succeed. Now they have the holiest of supporters in their corner: Pope Leo XIV.

On Thursday afternoon -- running with a claim by an ABC News reporter -- the Chicago Cubs boasted that Pope Leo XIV was a fan of theirs, with their famous signage outside Wrigley Field telling the locals the good news: "Hey, Chicago. He's a Cubs fan!"

After Pope Francis passed away earlier this year, the Vatican was charged with finding a replacement. After deliberation, Robert Provest took Francis’ place. In the media’s coverage of the transition,