Pope Leo plays tennis and supports AS Roma, says senior priest

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Leo XIV, the first US leader of the global Catholic Church, is a keen tennis player and a fan of AS Roma soccer club, according to a senior member of his religious order who has known him for four decades.

The new pope, 69, is known as a supporter of the White Sox baseball team from his hometown of Chicago, and the Vatican's news outlet has a published a picture of him riding a horse in Peru, where he spent many years as a missionary.

"He's a regular tennis player. He would come up and play on our grounds once a week at least," Father Joseph Farrell, Vicar General of the Augustinians, told Reuters on Friday, speaking from the headquarters of the religious order just off St Peter's Square.

He confirmed that Leo was a fan of the Eternal City's biggest soccer club.

"He's (AS) Roma all the way," Farrell said.

The club did not directly confirm it, but welcomed the new pontiff after his election on Thursday.

"AS Roma joins in rejoicing with Rome and the world following the election of Pope Leo XIV, and wishes him all the very best for his papacy," it wrote on X.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini)