While on a recent trip to Rome, a Boston man had an experience he won’t soon forget: A chat about baseball with Pope Leo XIV.
South Boston resident Stephen Ryan came home with a video of him inviting the pontiff to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
“It was incredible, and it was totally unexpected,” Ryan said.
The pope, a Chicago native and devout White Sox fan, asked Ryan which team he would be rooting for.
“He stopped in front of us. He noticed the sign that said ‘Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox,’ and that caught his attention because he’s a White Sox fan,” Ryan said. “It’s almost like he didn’t want to leave, we were having a one-on-one conversation amongst tens of thousands of people that were in the square.”
NBC10 Boston
NBC10 Boston
Stephen Ryan’s sign
Elected May 8, Pope Leo is the first pontiff from the United States.
“When I told him that there’s some Red Sox-White Sox games coming up at Fenway Park this summer he was like, ‘I think I want to go,” Ryan said.
The pope can be heard in the video saying, “I want to visit Boston.”
“I’m thinking right now, it’s probably the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received, to be in the presence of the Holy Father,” Ryan said Wednesday.