A Chicago family made sure Pope Leo XIV got a taste of home when they visited Rome, giving him a special “Da Pope” Bears t-shirt.
In fact, those very shirts may have convinced the pontiff to visit with the Munoz family during his official duties in Rome, as they were all wearing the shirts during the meeting.
“It just shows how loving and down to Earth and approachable our pope is,” Ann Munoz said.
On Sunday, the Munoz family was visiting Italy when they took a rideshare vehicle from approximately 45 minutes outside of the Vatican to attend the pope’s mass. They were outside the church, and they planned to all wear the “Da Pope” t-shirts, adorned in Bears’ colors and stylized after the legendary “Superfans” sketches from Saturday Night Live, to pay tribute to Pope Leo’s connections to Chicago.
Chicago Bears fans presented Pope Leo XIV with shirts that read “Da Pope,” while visiting Rome.
They also made sure they had one extra, just in case they were able to cross paths with the pontiff.
“’Why don’t I just buy one more on the off chance that maybe, wishful thinking -maybe we could get it to the pope somehow,’” Ann Munoz recalled.
“If you (search for) the pope on Amazon, there’s tons of versions of everything,” Marcel Munoz added. “So when we were deciding on which one to pick, I was like, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to be like 100 meters away,’ so we’re just like ‘let’s get simple DA POPE (shirts) as big as possible.’”
The couple’s three children were also in Rome, and all five were wearing the shirts when the magical moment occurred.
“He was across from us, and he turned his head an i think we caught his eye with our shirts and our son Rocco was just like waving the extra shirt in front of the barricade,” Ann Munoz said. “And he made a beeline straight for us. And I was like ‘oh my goodness, he’s coming!’”
Needless to say, the encounter left the Munoz family starstruck.
“When came to me, I couldn’t even form sentences,” Marcel Munoz said. “I was like ‘Chicago, we love you pope, we love you.’ I said go Bears!”
The viral moment was caught on video and even made the pope’s official Instagram page, and it’s one the Munoz family will never forget.
“I really did feel very special in that moment. You feel that connection,” Ann Munoz said.