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Even Pope Francis Is Celebrating Cubs' World Series Championship

By Ariel Cheung | November 15, 2016 8:41am
 Pope Francis received a Cubs baseball cap from Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich.
Pope Francis received a Cubs baseball cap from Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich.
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Twitter/@ArchbishopBlase

WRIGLEYVILLE — Oh, this is just heavenly.

If there was any doubt that even God was rooting for the Chicago Cubs to break a 108-year World Series championship drought, there's some absolutely divine news from the Vatican.

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich gave Pope Francis a celebratory Cubs baseball hat and what appears to be a signed baseball. Cupich shared a photo of him with the pope and his new Cubbie gear early Tuesday.

"News of the @Cubs win reached all the way to the #Vatican," Cupich wrote. "@Pontifex can now celebrate with us and he asks for our prayers! #FlytheW"

Cupich has been rooting for the Cubs for quite some time now, offering messages of hope during the postseason.

"An eternity of waiting is over," he wrote after the Cubs clinched the National League title last month for the first time in 71 years. "Thank heaven for our Cubs."

The archbishop, who serves 2.3 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties, even got a little cheeky after challenging Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon to a charity pizza contest.

Lennon pledged to feed more than 100 guests of a Catholic Charities evening supper program for the homeless, joining with Ohio's Italian Creations to deliver a Cleveland-style feast of pierogi, kielbasa, sauerkraut and green beans.

"I have to admit that I feel a bit guilty since in our tradition it is a sin to bet on a sure thing!" Cupich wrote.

Had the Cleveland Indians won the World Series, Cupich promised to team up with Lou Malnati's to deliver deep dish pizzas and baked goods to Cleveland.

And it ended up being a win-win; with the World Series clinched, Cupich still promised to send the pizza.

While it might seem more likely the church would support teams like the Angels or the Padres, some things are left to a higher power.

The Cubs and Wrigley Field are 95 percent owned by an entity controlled by a trust established for the benefit of the family of Joe Ricketts, owner and CEO of DNAinfo.com. Joe Ricketts has no direct involvement in the management of the iconic team.

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