- Pope Leo XIV — a Chicago native and noted White Sox fan — sent a letter from the Vatican to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, offering thanks and blessings just before the playoffs.
- He tied the team to his "Life in Abundance" message, calling sport a "school of life" and saying he hopes the Sox foster friendship and solidarity.
- The pope previously posed with a White Sox cap (after the team gave him one), and Chicago’s Sox now head to Houston to open the AL Wild Card Series against the Astros.
Latest stories in Religion & Spirituality.
- Chicago White Sox clinched a postseason spot Thursday — their first trip back since 2021.
- Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native and White Sox fan, quipped “No comment” when asked if he intervened and posed for a photo with a team cap they sent him.
- Seeding is still undecided (AL Central or wild card), and Chicago closes the regular season at home vs. the Colorado Rockies Sept. 25–27.
- Sen. Josh Hawley teamed with Christian leaders to unveil a "Declaration for Life" urging Republican candidates and officeholders to pledge to stop chemical abortions, specifically targeting the drug mifepristone.
- Organizers want the pledge to become an accountability tool for candidates—similar to Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge—so politicians must publicly commit to pro‑life policies.
- The push is backed by prominent faith groups and pastors after the RNC dropped a national abortion‑ban plank; Hawley has also introduced legislation to withdraw FDA approval of mifepristone and allow lawsuits against its makers.
- To mark his 71st birthday, Pope Leo XIV issued a decree repealing the 2021 COVID-era salary cuts, effectively restoring pay for many Vatican employees.
- He canceled plans to move the Vatican’s archives offsite and ordered a new building inside Vatican City to house manuscripts and archival collections.
- On his birthday he visited the Vatican Library (noting his mother was a librarian) and opened a new “water” art exhibition, the first in a five-year series.
- On the Wind River Reservation a non‑Native pastor’s sermon calling the Arapaho sundance “idol worship” has triggered weekly protests and tribal leaders saying she’s unwelcome, while she refuses to leave.
- The dispute highlights a legal clash: tribes passed rules requiring approval for religious groups, but the church sits on private property within the reservation and has legal backing, pitting tribal sovereignty against religious‑freedom claims.
- The conflict has split the community — the church provided camps, food and aid that helped many, but its rhetoric reopened painful histories of assimilation and drove some Native congregants away.
- Republicans used the GOP convention to single out Michigan Democrat Abdul El‑Sayed — attacking his progressive views, ties to streamer Hasan Piker and his Muslim faith, even making unproven claims about ties to the “Muslim Brotherhood.”
- El‑Sayed campaigned in East Lansing and downtown Lansing to big student crowds, focusing on everyday economic issues (gas, housing, trade) and pushing ideas like universal healthcare and taking money out of politics.
- He still faces intra‑party divisions after a bruising primary but is leaning into his personal story (an ad featuring his grandparents); he would be the nation’s first Muslim senator.
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