“I was blessed with the opportunity to greet him and present him with the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl cap (Go Birds!!!),” P\u00e9rez said in a post on Facebook<\/a>, including an eagle emoji. “This was a profoundly joyful encounter with the Holy Father along with thousands of Pilgrims from all over the world.”‘<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez and McIntyre are visiting the Vatican with several young people and the church’s Office for Ministry with Young Adults as the church observes the 2025 Jubilee of Young People.<\/a>\u00a0 The group departed Philly for Rome on July 26.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Perez\/Facebook<\/p>\n Archbishop Nelson Perez shares story of meeting Pope Leo XIV<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez and McIntyre met Pope Leo following his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square. Then P\u00e9rez handed him the hat and shook hands with the pope.<\/p>\n “He was certainly filled with joy, and congratulated Philly, the Eagles on winning the Super Bowl. This is great, this is the first pope in history that knows what a Wawa is, knows cheesesteaks, and now is holding in his hand an Eagles cap, how great is that?”<\/p>\n You can watch the full interview with Jim Donovan and Janelle Burrell in the video above.<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV’s Philadelphia-area past<\/p>\n The\u00a0first American Pope, Leo XIV<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 born in Chicago as Robert Prevost \u2014 does have some ties to the Philly area. He attended Villanova University as an undergraduate<\/a>, earning a degree in mathematics in 1977. One summer, he worked on the grounds crew at St. Denis Parish in Havertown, Pennsylvania<\/a>.<\/p>\n And a friend of his previously told CBS News Philadelphia that this is a pope who has been to Wawa<\/a>.<\/p>\n “He was very happy when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. He rejoiced with those of us from Philly,” Augustinian Father Joe Farrell said.<\/p>\n Farrell said he did not hear the Holy Father say “Go Birds” at any point during the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n However, it’s clear Pope Leo reps the Windy City first and foremost.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minutes after the Sistine Chapel’s chimney produced white smoke and he emerged in St. Peter’s Square, savvy social media users tracked down images of Pope Leo attending Game 1 of the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.\u00a0<\/p>\n The White Sox have since committed to installing a commemorative artwork in the seat where the future pope<\/a> watched the Sox win.<\/p>\n Then in June, a couple of Red Sox fans from Massachusetts gave Pope Leo a White Sox hat that he broke Vatican protocol to put on<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV (C) reacts wearing a Chicago White Sox baseball team cap as he meets newly wedded couples during the weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on June 11, 2025.<\/p>\n FILIPPO MONTEFORTE\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n He also donned a Villanova baseball cap when members of the National Italian American Foundation visited the Vatican and gave him the hat in early June.<\/a><\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n![\"pope-leo-and-archbishop-nelson-perez.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pope-leo-and-archbishop-nelson-perez.jpg#.jpeg\")
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