Pies and a baseball bat: The gifts Pope Leo XIV received on the papal flight to Turkey Aboard the papal plane on Thanksgiving Day, Pope Leo XIV kicked off his first international trip \u2014 a visit to Turkey \u2014 with distinctly American gifts: a baseball bat and pumpkin pie. \u201cTo the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving!\u201d Leo said as he greeted about 80 journalists aboard the chartered ITA Airways flight to Ankara on Thursday morning. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful day to celebrate.\u201d Two American journalists traveling with the pope gave him pumpkin pies. \u201cIt\u2019s not Thanksgiving if there\u2019s not enough to share,\u201d Crux correspondent Elise Ann Allen told the pope as she handed him the second pie. \u201cI\u2019ll definitely share some,\u201d Leo responded. The pope had plenty to share as NBC News correspondent Claudio Lavanga also gave him a pecan pie. Leo, a longtime Chicago White Sox fan, also received a baseball bat once owned by Nellie Fox, the White Sox legend who played for the team from 1950 to 1963, when Leo, then Robert Prevost, was a small child. Smiling, the pope joked, \u201cHow did it get through security?\u201d As a collective gift from the Vatican press corps, the pope received a Byzantine-style icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe made by Spanish iconographer D\u00e9bora Mart\u00ednez, a missionary in Cyprus. The icon, presented by Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki, who has logged more than 170 papal trips, was crafted using classical techniques of Eastern iconography. It depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe in Byzantine style, symbolically linking Latin America\u2019s Marian tradition with the iconography of the Christian East. At the start of the nearly three-hour flight, the pope continued a practice of his predecessor Pope Francis of walking down the aisle to greet each journalist. Pope Leo XIV wishes Americans 'Happy Thanksgiving' as he greets journalists traveling with him aboard the papal plane bound for Ankara at the start of his Apostolic Journey to T\u00fcrkiye.https:\/\/t.co\/08vdNe3GQK pic.twitter.com\/M27sVIW2jg Among them was Elias Turk, a journalist from Lebanon who is the Vatican editor for ACI MENA and EWTN News. Turk briefly shared a personal story with the pope, recounting how he lived through part of the 2024 escalation between Hezbollah and Israel and was trapped in Lebanon during the fighting. \u201cI told him that I lived \u2026 a traumatizing experience with my nephews during the war. We had to run and hide inside a house after being in a garden. We heard fighter jets passing in the skies and then powerful explosions,\u201d he explained. The pope listened closely. Turk, who is godfather to his nephews, asked the pope to bless two rosaries for the children, a three-year-old and a one-and-a-half-year-old, so they could pray for peace. He also carried a third rosary for a two-year-old Polish girl who has been repeatedly hospitalized. In a light moment with another journalist, Pope Leo said he had already completed his daily Wordle game before takeoff, adding that he solved Thursday\u2019s puzzle in three tries. According to the pope\u2019s brother, Leo plays Wordle every day and his favorite Thanksgiving dish is stuffing. During his first apostolic trip, taking place Nov. 27\u2013Dec. 2, Leo will visit Turkey and Lebanon. Follow EWTN News Live Updates of Pope Leo’s first Apostolic Trip. This article was originally published by CNA. Receive the most important news from EWTN Vatican via WhatsApp. It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channel today EWTN Vatican on WhatsApp Courtney Mares Would you like to receive the latest updates on the Pope and the Vatican Receive articles and updates from our EWTN Newsletter. More news related to this article Mamertine Prison in Rome, Prison of Saints Peter and Paul Pope Francis Calls for Unified Easter Celebrations Watch: Cardinal Sarah on the Importance of a Spiritual Life The Heroism of the Ulma Family: A mission of Love, Life, and Faith Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s Spiritual Legacy Lives On at Alt\u00f6tting Forum The Guardians of the Faith: A brief history of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith<\/p>\n