CHICAGO — Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pontiff and a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan, has his own personalized version of the team's viral "pope hat" giveaway after a South Side priest delivered the gift to him at the Vatican this week.

The Rev. Tom McCarthy, prior provincial of the Beverly-based Midwest Augustinians, met with the pope Wednesday and presented him with a gift box from the White Sox. The package included an upgraded version of the hat, featuring a sewn-on patch with the team's logo, along with several of the original giveaway hats, a team jersey, a signed baseball card and a letter from White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, according to Block Club Chicago.

The White Sox posted a photo of McCarthy and the pope holding the hat together on the social media platform X on Thursday, writing that the item had "officially landed at the Vatican." The image quickly circulated online, drawing hundreds of thousands of views.

The hat traces back to a sold-out White Sox game on Aug. 11 against the Cincinnati Reds, when the team distributed roughly 40,000 of the black-and-gold hats to fans at Rate Field as part of a promotion celebrating the team's connection to the pope. The design........

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