Pope Francis inadvertently showed the Saints some love Sunday with a tweet that included a hashtag that automatically included the pro football team's fleur-de-lis logo, ESPN reported.
The pope, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church and has more than 18 million followers on Twitter, was tweeting about five new saints who were canonized earlier Sunday, Sports Illustrated reported.
Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new #Saints. They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 13, 2019
Because Francis used the #Saints hashtag, Twitter automatically added the logo as part of the NFL's partnership with the social media service, ESPN reported.
Predictably, Saints fans viewed the tweet as a heavenly omen for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone weighed in on the subject, tweeting, "Wow, are we blessed or what?!??"
Wow, are we blessed or what?!?? https://t.co/IQtpTU1jCP
— Alex Anzalone (@AlexAnzalone47) October 13, 2019
Despite the inadvertent tweet, the pontiff at least avoided an ecclesiastical crisis. After all, the Saints were not playing the Cardinals.
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