Pope Leo pranks an Italian athlete using his 'special' item. His face says the rest

70-year-old Pope Leo XIV once played priest as a child, and a neighbor had predicted he would become the first American pope, a prophecy that came true on May 8, 2025, per The New York Times. Now leading 1.4 billion Roman Catholics, he recently showed a lighter side of his personality inside the Vatican. During a meeting with Olympic gold medalist Simone Deromedis (@simo.deroo), he did a playful gesture that left the player "confused." The moment, captured in a clip Deromedis shared on April 10, left 2.6 million viewers amused.

It happened on April 9, when the pope hosted an audience in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican to meet the athletes who participated in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games. According to a report by the Catholic World Report, the pope spoke about the integration of physical and internal identities of a person. He cautioned the athletes about the dark and extreme side of sports, including doping, commercialism, playing entirely for profit, and the reduction of athletes to mere spectacle. He spoke about “an honest and beautiful way of inhabiting the world” and urged them to keep the human person at the center of sport in all its forms.

During one instance, Deromedis, who had won the Olympic gold in Freestyle Skiing Men’s Ski Cross, walked towards the pope to greet and shake hands. As he did so, the Italian athlete was left humorously “confused” by the old man’s gesture. The pope notoriously took the gold medal from Deromedis’s hands and pretended to keep it. The cardinals sitting in the background smiled as he pranked the Italian gold medalist. As he walked away from him, he touched his chest to honor him. The pope did the same. For a moment, genuine fear showed on Deromedis' face, but it dissipated quickly as the Pope broke into a laugh, handing the medal back to its rightful owner.

Humor changes how people perceive authority figures. Research shows that leaders who use humor are seen as 27% more motivating and admired than those who don’t. Another study found that managers with a sense of humor are rated 23% more respected and 25% more pleasant to work with. It also shows that humor can increase team performance and communication, with groups that laugh together performing better during tasks and over time.

The cute and playful gesture left the audience swooning over the elderly pope. “That medal is blessed,” said @yourbroaj10. @yuli.portillo remarked, “The great thing is that you were going to let him keep it!” @nancy_tarazona_ exclaimed, “What a great moment of spontaneity!” 

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