Michael Stillman

Twenty-one years ago, an Augustinian priest called Robert Prevost sat in the stands watching the Chicago White Sox win Game 1 of the 2005 World Series against the Houston Astros. This week the same two teams met again in the postseason. Robert Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, and the White Sox have just swept Houston to win their first postseason series since that 2005 World Series. The coincidence is delightful, particularly because Leo has made absolutely no attempt to conceal his allegiance. When somebody recently asked whether he had exercised any divine influence in getting the White Sox into the playoffs, the Pope smiled and replied: “No comment. Great things happen in Chicago.” But something more interesting happened this week. Just before the postseason began, the White Sox received a letter from Leo in which he reflected on what sport can contribute to human life. Rather than praying for victory, he expressed the hope that the team would foster “bonds of friendship and solidarity” and bear witness to the possibility of people living and working together in peace. I rather like that. The Pope is now one of the most recognisable people on earth. He belongs, in a particular sense, to Catholics everywhere. His life has taken him from Chicago to Peru and Rome and the office he occupies necessarily transcends nationality. But he is still a White Sox fan!! Perhaps that tells us something about belonging. The universal does not require us to become rootless. We can belong to the universal Church while remaining profoundly attached to particular places, families, traditions and communities which helped make us who we are. Christianity has always contained that fascinating combination. The Church calls itself catholic precisely because it is universal, yet Catholic life is stubbornly particular: this parish, this town, this language, this feast, this procession, this family. And, apparently, this baseball team. Somewhere in the Apostolic Palace there may now be a very happy White Sox fan. Great things happen in Chicago!!