Surprisingly Only One NFL Team Released Heartfelt Statement On Pope Francis's DeathPope Francis. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The New Orleans community is mourning the loss of Pope Francis.

Francis died at the age of 88. The Vatican announced that Francis died on Monday morning, a day after emerging from convalescence to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Easter.

It was his last public appearance before his d3ath.

Francis recently spent more than a month in the hospital with double pneumonia.

The New Orleans Saints released a brief statement on Pope Francis’s d3ath on Monday.

“Our sincere prayers and thoughts on the passing of Pope Francis,” the Saints said.

 

Last April, Saints team owner Gayle Benson presented the Pope with a team jersey.

The date of his funeral has not yet been announced.

The conclave to elect a new pope by secret ballot begins in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel between 15 and 20 days after the Pope’s d3ath.

Pope Francis Accidentally Tweeted About The Saints Last Year

In the wake of the d3ath of Pope Francis, Diocese Bishop Robert J. McManus dedicates a special Mass at Cathedral of St. Paul on Monday.
It was only right that the New Orleans Saints spoke out after the d3ath of Pope Francis.

The first Latin pope had a connection to the New Orleans Saints through the team’s owner and his accidental mention of the team.

On multiple occasions, Francis used the Saints hashtag, which automatically brings up the teams’ fleur-de-lis logo.

In November 2024, he tweeted, “The #Saints are formed by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungering and thirsting for justice, seeking peace. They are “filled with God” and incapable of remaining indifferent to the needs of their neighbour. They bear witness to paths of light that we too can trod,” the Pope said.

The Saints certainly needed help. They went 2-0 to start the season, only to finish the year 5-12 and dead last in the NFC South.

Everyone Is Making The Same Joke After Pope Francis Accidentally Tweeted About Struggling NFL Team

Pope Francis wavingPope Francis (Photo via Getty Images)
The NFL is a league that reaches all corners of the globe. A wide variety of people enjoy the sport, and that may even extend to one of the most prominent religious figures in the world, Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church.

On Friday, he even tweeted on X about the Saints. Of course, he might not have been talking about the New Orleans Saints, but nonetheless, many choose to believe he was.

“The #Saints are formed by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungering and thirsting for justice, seeking peace. They are “filled with God” and incapable of remaining indifferent to the needs of their neighbour. They bear witness to paths of light that we too can trod,” the Pope said.

Of course, many took this as an opportunity to make the same joke even if the Pope wasn’t talking about the struggling franchise, which is just 2-6 and third in the NFC South.

 

If this tweet were about the New Orleans Saints, they could use all the help they can get after starting the season 2-0 and then collecting six straight losses.

It Is Unclear If Pope Francis Has A Favorite NFL Team

If the Pope does have a favorite NFL team, it would be hard to imagine that it would not be the Saints.

This isn’t even the first time the internet has used one of his Tweets to support New Orleans.

In 2019, he tweeted about Saints in a similar situation right before the team took on the Jacksonville Jaguars, saying, “Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new #Saints. They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession.”

Miraculously, the team wound up winning, even without starter drew Brees. Could this have been proof of a higher power at work?