Pope Francis cares about saints in the Catholic Church. Does he care about the Saints in New Orleans, too?
That question has been on the minds of some social media users this month as the pope posts on X using the “#Saints” hashtag.
That hashtag, like #GoPackGo or #NEPats, automatically adds an NFL team’s logo to your X post. The logo appears with #Saints even if you’re talking about a different type of saint, as the pope is.
That means Pope Francis has unintentionally shared the New Orleans Saints logo multiple times in recent weeks as he’s written about the significance of saints to Catholics around the world.
NFL fans have had fun with the trend, especially Thursday when the pope called on his followers to “become #Saints” with “joyful hearts.”
“They need to fix the cap issue first, Pontifex,” replied one X user.
“Any chance the Houston Texans can catch a blessing, too?” asked another.
The pope’s communications team has either not noticed the hashtag issue or doesn’t consider it a problem.
The social media team for the New Orleans Saints is making the most of the trend while it lasts.
“Amen #Saints” the team said in a quote tweet of the pope’s message about having joyful hearts.
“Thank you for your prayers, Pontiff. We need them,” said an X post from the team on Tuesday.
The post about needing prayers nodded to the fact that the Saints are on a seven-game losing streak.
Head coach Dennis Allen was fired Monday due to the skid.
The Saints have a chance to turn things around — and perhaps please the pope — on Sunday when they face the Atlanta Falcons.