Did Pope Leo XIV really sign a Pokémon card?
On Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, the Catholic Church celebrates 100 days of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy.
There were several firsts throughout these 100 days, including reports that he signed a Pokémon card!
According to a story from The Catholic Herald, Pope Leo blessed and signed a Popplio Pokémon card for Vietnamese pilgrim and Denmark native, Tri Nguyen, on July 5.
Nguyen had the opportunity to meet Pope Leo while on a six-day pilgrimage with Young Catholics of Denmark (Danmarks Unge Katolikker).
As “a huge Pokémon fan,” he brought a Popplio card for the pope to sign. He thought it “would be really fun because of the similarity in the names.”
Nguyen also said his experience meeting Pope Leo was “quite the encounter”:
“His joyous face and speech touched my heart in ways I haven’t experienced before. It was quite the encounter, and quite the privilege to be there,” he said. “One thing that stuck with me was how happy he was. When I got to greet him personally, his smile and laughter were warming. His interest in what I was saying felt genuine.”
Several false photos surfaced of the signing. However, Vatican Media captured the real image of Pope Leo signing Nguyen's card.
Here is an official photo of Pope Leo XIV signing Tri Nguyen’s Popplio Pokémon card below:
Here’s a photo of Pope Leo’s signature:
Once the signing went viral on the internet, it sparked an explosive reaction on social media.
One user said, “Pretty unique and cool.”
Another person joked, “So does that make it a Popémon card?”
“This will be the most expensive Pokémon card to exist,” someone else said.
“Haha, I loved Pokémon as a kid,” another person added. “This is too cool.”