Pope Francis accidentally tweeted in support of the New Orleans Saints thanks to a hashtag snafu

• Pope Francis accidentally endorsed the New Orleans Saints on Twitter on Sunday morning.
• Francis had written "#Saints" in a tweet after canonizing five new saints into the church at a mass.
• The hashtag automatically added the logo of the New Orleans Saints, making the tweet look like one of support for the team.
• After the game, fans and the team had a bit of fun with the mishap.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Pope Francis accidentally made himself the most popular New Orleans Saints fan on Twitter on Sunday morning, when a hashtag mishap left one of his tweets showing the team's logo in the middle of its text.

"Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new #Saints," Francis had tweeted, after canonizing five new saints during a mass in Vatican City. "They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession."

What Francis likely had no way of knowing was that every NFL team has an accompanying logo - in the Saints' case, the team's iconic fleur-de-lis - leaving his tweet looking like an endorsement of Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, and the rest of the New Orleans Saints.

On Twitter, fans had some fun with the mishap.

After securing a 13-6 victory over the Jaguars, the official account of the Saints gave Francis a shout out, thanking him for his support.

 

While it wasn't his intention, Pope Francis' blessing appeared to have worked wonders for the Saints, who have now won four straight games despite the absence of starting quarterback Drew Brees, who is still recovering from an issue with his throwing hand.

After Sunday's success, don't be surprised if Saints fans ask Francis to bless Brees' thumb for a swift return.

• Read more:

Jaguars tight end Geoff Swaim was knocked out of Sunday's game with a scary helmet-to-helmet hit

Gardner Minshew is said to be a fantasy-football savant but refuses to pick himself

The Richard Sherman-Baker Mayfield handshake drama has taken a bizarre and confusing turn as video appears to show them shaking hands

Nick Bosa trolled Baker Mayfield by recreating the quarterback's most iconic college celebration

Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett told his coach they should 'run it down their throats' before using an old-school offensive attack to upset the Chiefs

NOW WATCH: 5 things about the NFL that football fans may not know