Pope Leo XIV surprised American Catholic youth during a virtual meeting on Friday by sharing a personal tidbit: he begins each game of Wordle with a different word. The pontiff’s playful confession came as he connected with young Catholics to discuss broader topics such as artificial intelligence, social media, and the future direction of the Catholic Church.

Speaking from the Vatican, Pope Leo engaged with attendees of the National Catholic Youth Conference, which took place in Indianapolis. The event’s broadcast was facilitated by U.S. Catholic network EWTN, enabling the Pope to reach a wide audience.

Since his election in May, it has become known that Pope Leo is a daily player of the popular New York Times word game. His brother, John Prevost, previously mentioned that the Pope enjoys comparing his Wordle results with those of family and friends, a common bonding activity.

During the question-and-answer session, which included a mix of spontaneous and prepared questions, Pope Leo was asked about his Wordle playing habits. Embracing the moment with humor, he shared, “I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there’s no set starting word.”

Leo was asked about his strategy at the start of Friday’s Q&A, which was otherwise somewhat scripted. Playing along, Leo revealed “I use a different word for Wordle every day, so there’s no set starting word.”

The simple, free online puzzle lets players guess a five-letter word in six tries with no hints and has millions of daily players around the world.

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