Philadelphia Archbishop Presents Pope Leo XIV With Eagles Hat

Pope Leo XIV accepted a gift of a Philadelphia Eagles hat during a meeting with a delegation from the City of Brotherly Love at the Vatican on Wednesday, July 30.

A photo taken by a Vatican photographer shows the Catholic Church pontiff smiling and shaking hands with Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez and Bishop John McIntyre.

"I was blessed with the opportunity to greet him and present him with the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl cap (Go Birds!!!)," Pérez said in a post on Facebook, including an eagle emoji. "This was a profoundly joyful encounter with the Holy Father, along with thousands of Pilgrims from all over the world."

According to CBS News Philadelphia, Pérez and McIntyre met Pope Leo following his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square. Then Pérez gave him the hat and shook hands with the pope.

"He was certainly filled with joy and congratulated Philly, the Eagles on winning the Super Bowl. This is great. This is the first pope in history that knows what a Wawa is, knows cheesesteaks, and now is holding in his hand an Eagles cap. How great is that?" Pérez said.

As the first American pope, Leo XIV was born in Chicago as Robert Prevost. He attended Villanova University as an undergraduate, earning a degree in mathematics in 1977. During one summer, he worked on the grounds crew at St. Denis Parish in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

Since becoming pope earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV has been photographed wearing ball caps from sports organizations. In June, several fans gave Pope Leo a Chicago White Sox hat, which he put on, breaking Vatican protocol.

He also wore a Villanova baseball cap when members of the National Italian American Foundation visited the Vatican and gave him the hat in early June.