The recent election of Pope Leo XIV from Chicago has ignited a wave of humor and memes on social media, particularly on X. While many Catholics were in solemn contemplation, others engaged with humorous content, including references to pop culture and city pride. The parody account Pope Crave played a pivotal role by sharing news ahead of the Vatican and fostering a sense of community through laughter. This meme-ification has revived positive aspects of internet culture, contrasting with the typical negativity found online, especially amid current tensions.
Pope Crave was the first to report that a new pope had been chosen (sharing the news before the actual Vatican), and even had a reporter on the ground in Rome to cover the whole thing.
The meme-ification of the new pope is enjoyable on multiple levels, not least of which is the fact that it's revived one of the last remaining good parts of internet culture: laughing together.
Much of my time online these days is spent avoiding trolls, blocking bad-faith actors and trying to reset my algorithm so my feed isn't just full of rightwing ads.
The jokes have been top-tier references to the TV show The Bear, videos of the new pope walking out to music by the Chicago legend Chief Keef.
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