Jason Perash came prepared to the Vatican. He had two goals: to meet the Pope and get him to sign a baseball.
Perash, 46, an attorney who is also a freelance journalist, was granted access to Pope Leo as part of a meet-and-greet with the press.
Not only is Pope Leo the first American-born Pope, but he is also a White Sox fan from Chicago, so signing a baseball was not foreign. It was met with one pivotal question from His Holiness.
“White Sox or Cubs?” he asked Perash before signing the ball.
According to reports, Persash, an Orioles fan from Colorado, answered wisely, “Uh, Sox.”
Pope Leo liked the answer, taking the ball and signing it on the sweet spot in Latin, “Leone PP XIV.”
“It’s one of my life highlights, it’s already that big in my mind,” Perash, a lifelong autographed baseball collector, told the Chicago Sun Times outside St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Leo XIV signs a baseball after his audience with journalists this morning. Autographing the first of many baseballs I feel during what, God willing, will be a long Pontificate. pic.twitter.com/eUouwg6DPb
— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) May 12, 2025
Pope Leo Related Baseball Stories
