Pope Fancis recently made some edifying statements about saints and sanctity which — through a strange coincidence of how social media works — led people to joke that he was blessing the struggling New Orleans Saints. Here are the statements His Holiness posted:
- We cannot become #Saints with a frown. We must have joyful hearts that remain open to hope.
- The #Saints are precious pearls and are always living and relevant, because they provide a fascinating commentary on the Gospel. Their lives are an illustration of the Good News that Jesus brought to humanity: God is our Father, who loves everyone with boundless love.
- 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.
In reverse order, these postings date from November 1, All Saints Day, November 5, and today, November 7.
What caused the comical confusion was the fact that whoever tends the Holy Father’s English X account used the pound sign, or hashtag symbol (#), before the word saints, which automatically generated the symbol for the New Orleans Saints in each of the three postings: 
The Saints have apparently been having a bad season, which led fans to joke that the Holy Father was giving a special blessing to the team. This was especially the case with today’s posting: “We cannot become #Saints with a frown. We must have joyful hearts that remain open to hope.”
The Fleur de Lis, by the way, is a Catholic symbol. An ancient sign of purity, in Christendom, it became associated with the Holy Trinity (for its three pedals) and with Our Lady, the Virgin Most Pure (see here, here, and here). Due to its traditional associations with the French monarchy, it is found all over the French colonial city of New Orleans, and thus became the symbol of the New Orleans Saints football team.
The name of the team also has Catholic origins. It was November 1, 1966 — All Saints’ Day — that New Orleans was awarded the NFL’s sixteenth franchise. A month later, after getting the approval and blessing of New Orleans’ Archbishop Philip Hannan — the owners dubbed their franchise “the Saints.” The story is told in Newsweek, which relies on a Catholic News Agency story from 2010.
So, we’ve come full circle: from the Pope’s words on All Saints Day and the following Octave to the naming of the team on that day.
Now, if we can only all strive to be actual saints. Do I hear an “Amen”?
Well, yes, because the official X account for the New Orleans Saints responded appropriately to the Holy Father’s “accidental” message of encouragement today:
Amen #Saints https://t.co/zDsyaPe9tL
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 7, 2024
