The Chicago White Sox sold out their stadium for a Pope Leo XIV, themed game on August 11, drawing more than 38,000 fans to Rate Field for custom pope hats, a nun's first pitch, and a $14,000 charitable donation, a turnout the team's front office called unprecedented.

The promotion started small. The White Sox initially offered black and gold mitre-style "pope hats", designed in the team's colors, to the first 2,500 ticketholders. Those sold out fast. The team added 500 more. Those went, too. So the front office expanded the giveaway to every seat in the house, pushing the target to the stadium's roughly 40,000-person capacity.

Brooks Boyer, the White Sox executive vice president, told the team's website he couldn't recall anything like it.

"We were talking about this before. Is there anything that has rivaled this where we'd have to say, we have to go to 40,000? We couldn't remember anything where we've had to put it to 40,000."

More than 38,000 fans ultimately showed up, a remarkable figure for a mid-August weeknight game against the Cincinnati Reds, and a testament to the cultural weight Pope Leo XIV carries in Chicago.

A Dominican nun threw the first pitch, and fans exchanged the sign of peace in the fifth

The evening went well beyond a hat giveaway. Dominican Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of Springfield, Illinois, threw the ceremonial first pitch. Father Tom Hurley of the Chicago Archdiocese led a fifth-inning "sign of peace," during which fans shook hands with strangers in the stands. A group called the ChiTown Popes performed. And on the field, Father Tom McCarthy and Brother David Relstab of the Augustinians' Midwest province accepted a $14,000 donation from Chicago White Sox Charities.

The Augustinians are Pope Leo XIV's own religious order, a detail that made the charitable gesture more than a corporate check presentation. It tied the ballpark spectacle directly back to the man whose fandom made the whole night possible.

Will Venable, the White Sox manager, summed up the mood in comments published on the team website.

"Very excited about Pope Night, and obviously a lot of people are excited about it. Any time we get to celebrate the pope and his fandom of the White Sox is something that we'll lean into."

Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, grew up in Dolton, a south suburb of Chicago, and has never hidden his loyalty to the South Side club. Since his election, he has been photographed wearing a White Sox cap at the Vatican, and his baseball allegiance has become part of his public identity as the first American-born pope.

His brother John settled any lingering debate about the family's loyalties in an interview with WGN-TV: "He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don't know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan. Our mother was a Cubs fan."

From the 2005 World Series pew to a Vatican mural at Rate Field

The pope's connection to the White Sox runs back two decades. As then-Father Bob Prevost, he attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series at what is now Rate Field, sitting in Section 140, Row 19, Seat 2, according to the Associated Press. The Sox swept the Houston Astros four games to none that October, ending an 88-year championship drought known as the Curse of the Black Sox.

Video of Prevost at that World Series game went viral after his election as pontiff. The White Sox responded by sending a jersey and hat to the Vatican and extending an open invitation for him to return to the ballpark. The team also installed a graphic mural of the pope at the entrance to the section where he sat in 2005, along with markers on his specific seat.

Pope Leo XIV has made headlines well beyond baseball since his election. He recently elevated the archbishop who denied Nancy Pelosi Communion to the Vatican's highest court, a move that signaled his willingness to back bishops who enforce Catholic teaching on public figures.

About a month after the conclave, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago led a thanksgiving Mass for the pope's election at Rate Field itself, turning the ballpark into a temporary cathedral. Fox News reported that thousands of Catholics attended and that Pope Leo XIV sent a personal video message to the gathering.

The celebrations spilled far beyond the stadium. A National Review photo gallery documented tributes across Chicago and its suburbs, restaurants renaming dishes "Poperoni Pizza," bakeries selling pope-decorated cookies, and a billboard advertising deep-dish pizza "now available in Rome."

A major White Sox shareholder told media the pope said "he'd love to" throw the first pitch at a future new stadium, "schedule permitting." The team has discussed plans for a new ballpark, though no confirmed timeline exists.

Richard King, 78, saw his faith and his team share the same stage

Richard King, a 78-year-old lifelong Sox fan from Chicago's South Side, watched the August 11 game on television. He has followed the team since he was seven. A daily Massgoer and member of the Knights of Columbus, King told OSV News that the spectacle moved him.

"The place was capacity," King said. He described having Catholicism openly on display at a major-league ballpark as "great!" and said he expected the event would raise interest and curiosity about the Catholic faith.

That intersection of sports and faith has become a recurring theme in Pope Leo XIV's young papacy. His public engagement has extended from private audiences at the Vatican to high-profile geopolitical moments, including his endorsement of a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding that drew a "Praise Jesus" response from Vice President Vance.

The collectibles market has noticed the pope's cultural reach, too. A Pope Leo XIV Topps NOW trading card sold for $16,500 at auction, and over 133,000 copies of the card have been produced to meet demand. Topps even printed a limited "White Smoke Variation" card, only 267 copies, honoring him as the 267th pope.

The friends who knew Prevost before his election carry a different kind of pride. Eddie Schmit, grandson of the pope's late friend Ed Schmit, offered a gentle correction to all the baseball hoopla in comments to the AP: "A lot of this is about the White Sox. It should be more about what kind of guy the pope is."

His aunt, Heidi Skokal, shared a story about her father's final days and his friendship with the future pontiff.

"Right around when my dad was passing, Father Bob made sure...he spoke with him and everything. And he said, Father Bob, I know you're going to be the next pope. I may not be here to see it. And he goes, But I'll be definitely looking down. And I'm sure he is today."

Cincinnati spoiled the party on the scoreboard, but not in the stands

On the field, the Reds rallied in the 10th inning to beat the White Sox 5, 4, taking the lead in their three-game series set to conclude August 13. The Sox still lead the American League Central Division.

Boyer, speaking from the dugout before the game, captured the front office's mindset about the night.

"The only anxiety was: Can we get 40,000 here by the time of this day? So as soon as we figured out we could, it's been a lot of fun to be part of."

Forty thousand pope hats in a baseball stadium. A nun on the mound. The sign of peace in the fifth inning. In a country where faith is too often treated as a liability in public life, Chicago showed what happens when a city decides to celebrate it instead.