Is Robert Prevost a Cubs fan? What to know about Pope Leo XIV's Chicago roots

White smoke trickled through the air in Vatican City on Thursday afternoon, signaling the appointment of the Bishop of Rome — better known as the pope.

When the supreme pontiff was unveiled to the masses of parishioners who pooled into the plaza at St. Peter's Square, it carried a special significance. Peruvian-American Robert Prevost was named head of the Catholic Church, becoming the first North American, first Peruvian and seventh Augustinian priest to receive the honor.

Unsurprisingly, the matriculation of Prevost, christened with the papal name Pope Leo XIV, to the Catholic Church's most prestigious position had people talking, given his roots to Chicago. And amongst the pomp and circumstance of Thursday's events, came a simple — and perhaps appropriate — question: is the new pope a Cubs or White Sox fan?

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Here's what you need to know.

Is Robert Prevost a Cubs fan?

According to ABC News, Prevost is, in fact, a Cubs fan.

It's easy to see why — as a soon-to-be 70-year-old who grew up in Chicago's south side, Prevost bore witness to a host of Windy City icons past and present, from Ernie Banks and Ron Santo to Fergie Jenkins and Ryne Sandberg.

Theoretically, Prevost could've grown up a White Sox fan. The franchise's snakebitten history mimics the Cubs in a great many ways, with the curse of the 1919 Black Sox proving analogous to the Cubbies' "Curse of the Billy Goat."

However, the Sox's recent struggles would make such a decision a bit less palatable. After posting the worst record in MLB history, the White Sox could use some divine intervention to get themselves back into MLB's good graces.

Where is Robert Prevost from?

Prevost spent much of his adult life in Trujillo, a coastal northwestern town in Peru where he taught canon law, served as a judge on the region's ecclesiastical court and lent his services to the city's Roman Catholic Archdiocese

. But the Villanova alum cut his teeth in Chicago, his beloved hometown, growing up on the south side of the city.