Pope Leo celebrates 70th birthday thanking his parents, credits White Sox-Cubs rivalry for teaching him diplomacy

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his 70th birthday Sunday by thanking his parents — and mused about how growing up in a Chicago household of Cubs and White Sox fans prepared him for navigating global diplomacy.

Crowds cheered when Leo appeared for his Sunday prayer over St. Peter’s Square, with many carrying balloons and huge signs reading, “Happy birthday” in numerous languages, NBC News reported.

“My dears, it seems you know today I have turned 70,” a smiling Leo told the cheering square.

“I thank the Lord, my parents and all those who remembered me in their prayers,” said the pope, whose mom and dad died in the 1990s.

Leo — who was chosen to lead the Catholic Church in May at age 69 — is the youngest person to serve as pope since 1978, when John Paul II was selected at age 58.

That means Leo — like Pope John Paul II — could have a papacy lasting decades. It’s a responsibility he has said he is still figuring out — and not taking lightly.

“There’s still a huge learning curve ahead of me,” Leo told Vatican reporter Elise Ann Allen in an interview for an upcoming biography — excerpts of which were released Sunday.

“I’m learning a lot and feeling very challenged but not overwhelmed,” he said.

Among the challenges Leo has faced is learning to become not just a church leader but also a leading geopolitical figure.

“The totally new aspect to this job is being thrown onto the level of world leader,” he said. “On that one I had to jump in on the deep end of the pool very quickly.”

But Leo — the first American Pope — said he’s had to look no further than his Chicago childhood for fundamental lessons about handling geopolitics.

“At home, I grew up a White Sox fan, but my mother was a Cubs fan, so you couldn’t be one of those fans that shut out the other side,” Leo said.

“We learned, even in sports, to have an open, dialogical, friendly and not angry competitive stance on things like that, because we might not have gotten dinner had we,” he said.

World leaders joined in wishing Leo a happy birthday, including Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who called Leo’s words “reliable and solid guidance” in “extremely complex times.”

The US ambassador to the Vatican also sent Leo a cake to enjoy.