Conclave Anchors Take Shots At Chicago Cubs While Mistakenly Believing Leo XIV Is a Longtime Cubs Fan: ‘Acquainted With Suffering’

ABC News Papal Conclave anchors David Muir and Terry Moran took some affectionate shots at the Chicago Cubs upon the ascension of longtime fan Pope Leo XIV to the post of Holy Father.

The problem is, the Chicago-born pope is a White Sox fan.

88-year-old Pope Francis passed away two weeks ago, and on Wednesday, the process to select a new pope began in Vatican City with a procession at the Sistine Chapel, where the world watched and waited for the smoke signal that a new pope had been chosen.

As it turned out, the cardinals did not have to “raw-dog” it for long — the Vatican popped the white smoke on Thursday afternoon after a fourth vote.

The winner and new pope was announced as Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, making him the first American to head the church and likely the first and last Cubs fan to do so — and the last time elderly Chicago residents will hear “Holy Trinity” and automatically think “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”

After Moran — himself a long-suffering Cubbies fan — mentioned Pope Leo’s alleged allegiance to the drought-prone North Side Nine, he and Muir roasted the team like ballpark red hots:

ABC NEWS CONCLAVE ANCHOR DAVID MUIR: You know, something you said struck me, that he was a Cubs fan from the south side of Chicago, and yet you hear him, the Vatican described, for his quiet, humble way.

That’s perhaps how he survived being a Cub fan, from the South Side.

ABC NEWS CONCLAVE ANCHOR TERRY MORAN:: That’s a great point, David.

And another thing that you know, because he’s a Cubs fan, is he is well-equated with suffering in the sporting world.

The Cubs didn’t win a World Series for 108 years. Any team can have a bad century. And he knows that.

And hope springs eternal. They’re a contender this year, it looks like. And so maybe this is an auspicious sign for his ball

ABC NEWS CONCLAVE ANCHOR DAVID MUIR: Terry Moran who has covered the Catholic Church for so long and is a native son from Chicago and knows what this moment is like for the Windy City. Terry, thank you.

But according to the pope’s brother, the new pontiff follows the White Sox.

“Whoever said Cubs on the radio got it wrong,” John Prevost told NBC News. “It’s Sox.”

Watch above via ABC News.