Chicago company gifts Pope Leo XIV custom ping-pong table

Pope Leo XIV tried his hand at some table tennis during a general audience last week.

The custom table was gifted to the pope by Robert Blackwell Jr., the chairman of the luxury table tennis company Killerspin, which is based in Chicago.

“We had given a table to Pope Francis in 2016 to celebrate World Unplug and Play Day, and so I’ve met people who were in the Vatican, and they said, well, there’s a new pope — and obviously, he’s from Chicago,” said Blackwell. “So I said, we’d love to give this pope you know, a table for this pope, which we designed, and we shipped it there, we presented that to him with some paddles, and then we talked about — so, you know, we’re here from Chicago, your hometown, and everybody wishes you really wishes you well.”

The custom-made pearlescent ping-pong table and equipment that Killerspin gifted the pope features his coat of arms.

It also features the four stars of Chicago.

Blackwell called Pope Leo “a really cool guy” and “very chill, but you know, kind of warm as a person.” But is Pope Leo a fan of ping-pong?

“You know what? He was kind of smiling, and I’ve been told he plays tennis,” said the pope, “and from the way he picked up the paddle, I suspect he knows how to play table tennis.”