Pope Leo XIV gave a hint to his brother the night before the conclave that he could be the next pope — but he ignored his older siblings advice.
Older brother John Prevost revealed the shocking details from a prophetic phone call he had with then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost before he was locked in the Sistine Chapel with the other 132 cardinals on Wednesday.
“He said, ‘What should my name be,’” John Prevost told the Daily Herald from his suburban Chicago home.
“We started rattling off names just to rattle off names. I told him it shouldn’t be Leo because it will be the 13th,” the elder brother recalled.
“But he must’ve done some research to see it’s actually the 14th.”
The older Prevost said he was as shocked when his little brother. who grew up in Chicago, was named Holy Father of the Roman Catholic Church.
“Not really an idea that it could happen, but there was a chance, an inkling,” Prevost said, adding, “But I really was just as surprised as everyone when they said his name.”
Prevost also dished on Pope Leo XIV’s favorite baseball team, which is in need of divine intervention.
Chicago-native Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox, fan contrary to widespread speculation that the newly minted Holy Father was a fan of the Cubs, according to his brother.
“He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don’t know where that all came from,” the pope’s brother John Prevost told WGN News.
Follow the latest on the election of Pope Leo XIV:
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- Here’s why American-born Cardinal Robert Prevost might have selected Pope Leo XIV as his papal name
“He was always a Sox fan,” Prevost said.
“Our mom’s family was from north side, so they were Cubs fans.”
White Sox fandom was a personal choice for a young Pope Leo XIV, whose father supported the rival St. Louis Cardinals, according to that interview.
Fellow storied losers the Chicago Cubs balked earlier Thursday when they posted, “Hey Chicago, He’s A Cubs Fan!,” in lights outside Wrigley Field.
The White Sox posted an all-time MLB worst 41-121 record last season and lost 10 – 0 to the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.