The New Orleans Saints are getting sympathy and ridicule in the same breath after sending a bizarre message to Pope Francis.
As the team struggles at 2-7, the leader of the Catholic Church has unintentionally used their hashtag twice this week while discussing the holy and the virtuous. After their seventh straight loss, the Saints responded to one of the tweets and enlisted help from the higher powers.
The team admin on X reposted the Pope with a picture of owner Gayle Benson presenting him with a Saints jersey, writing, ‘Thank you for your prayers, Pontiff. We need them.’
Fans took to the comment section to flame the team over the post, with one writing: ‘Yall admitting you’re cooked literally brought tears to my eyes.’
Another suggested, ‘Not even the pope can save this team.’
The Saints asked Pope Francis for prayers as they suffered their seventh straight loss
A Saints hopeful took the tweet as the team conceding early on, commenting, ‘Saints admitting we’re a** is crazy.’
Meanwhile, others applauded the team’s social media admin for learning to laugh at their pain.
‘Rare 2024 Saints W here,’ one wrote while another pointed out that ‘Self awareness is key.’
On Friday, the Pope accidentally blessed the team with a tweet reading, ‘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.’
Unfortunately, not even his benediction could save the team from a narrow 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Fans flamed the team for the post on X after the Pope accidentally used their hashtag
They hope that faith could turn their fate when they face the Atlanta Falcons at home on Nov. 10.
While the Saints have not been so blessed this season, the Pope putting his hand over them has worked on previous occasions.
In 2019, Pope Francis tweeted about saints in the same manner before New Orleans took on the Jacksonville Jaguars, writing: ‘Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new #Saints. They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession.’
Miraculously, the team secured the win without their starting quarterback Drew Brees.
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