LOOK: Pope Francis receives a Mark Pope Kentucky jersey
Blue got into Vatican City, and, as a result, Kentucky may have a very important new fan.
Father Jim Sichko, a priest of the Diocese of Lexington, was in Vatican City for meetings and presented Pope Francis with a Mark Pope Kentucky jersey. Although Pope wore the No. 41 during his playing days, the jersey has the No. 23 on it, which honors him becoming the 23rd men’s basketball coach at Kentucky.
“He loved it,” Sichko told KSR of Pope Francis’ reaction to the gift.
Sichko told KSR that Pope Francis remembered him from past encounters and the two talked about bourbon, horses, and of course, Kentucky Basketball and Football. Speaking of football, Sichko gave a big shoutout to Mark Stoops’ staff for helping him get a Kentucky Mark Pope jersey to present to his Holiness.
Top 10
- 1Live
UK vs. Gonzaga
Live Updates
- 2Breaking
HUGE Recruiting W
Kenny Darby is a Cat!
- 3New
Staff Predictions
for UK vs. Gonzaga
- 4New
Derek Shay
staying at UK
- 5New
Pete Nochta
joining Will Stein's staff
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“I had no way of getting in touch with Coach Pope,” Sichko said. “It’s beautiful that both teams work together.”
The jersey wasn’t the only item Sichko presented to Pope Francis. Check out the bottle of Willett bourbon that now bears Francis’ signature.
Maybe Pope Francis will send Sichko home with a real pope hat for our Pope?
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard