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It’s going to be awhile before Justin Ishbia takes over the Chicago White Sox from Jerry Reinsdorf, but he’s already looking to a future with a new ballpark blessed by Pope Leo XIV and a team winning “many championships for decades to come.”

That was the message Ishbia relayed to the world’s most prominent Sox fan Wednesday in Rome when Ishbia met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. A photo of Ishbia gifting an autographed 2005 Sox jersey to the pontiff was posted on the pope’s Instagram page .

“It was an amazing experience,” Ishbia told the Tribune in a phone interview. “It was spiritual and moving and awesome, and we spoke about Chicago. (He’s) an international beacon of the community of Chicago, the city of hope, opportunity and communit

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