
Vatican goes viral: TikTokers fascinated by pope election
As the world waited this week to see who would be elected the next pope, the major event also took social media by storm, with content creators weighing in with memes and comedic skits about the tradition they dubbed the "Catholic Superbowl."
The conclave — the highly secretive ritual of selecting a new pope — began on Wednesday, following Pope Francis' death on April 21. A group of 133 cardinals from the College of Cardinals met at the Vatican to vote through secret ballot, with a two-thirds majority required to select the Catholic Church's next leader.
On Thursday afternoon, white smoke was seen billowing from the Sistine Chapel, signaling a new pope had been elected. The conclave later announced that Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was chosen as the new leader of the Catholic Church — which has around 1.4 billion members worldwide.
For some members of Generation Z, it was the first conclave they really remembered – the last took place in 2013 – and they took a surprising interest in the hallowed tradition.
Content creators on TikTok and Instagram playfully covered the solemn proceedings this week as if it were a sports contest, with popular accounts dubbing the conclave the "Catholic Superbowl" or the "Pope Games."
The conclave inspired memes, songs, reality television show parodies, skits and comparisons to the NFL draft that have reached millions of views on social media, Axios reported.
Even social media users without any religious beliefs weighed in with their choices for the next pope. One video from an atheist TikToker wishing that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle would emerge the winner, has racked up over 4 million views.
Tagle was dubbed the "Asian Pope Francis" and appeared to be a favorite among liberal TikTokers because of his approachable demeanor and progressive views, according to a columnist at National Catholic Reporter.
Social media users also took inspiration from clips from the 2024 Oscar-winning film "Conclave," which experienced a spike in streaming since the death of Pope Francis in April.
Politico reported that some cardinals who have never experienced a conclave before looked to the film for guidance on Vatican protocol and proceedings.
The White House also joined in the online speculation over the new pope last week, with President Donald Trump jokingly posting an AI-generated image of himself as the pope on Truth Social.
Prevost, the first pope ever from North America, chose the papal name Leo XIV.
Social media users were quick to make jokes about the new pontiff being an American.
Some liberals hoped the new pontiff would share their political leanings, including former Obama aide Jon Favreau, who cheered the pope for his past posts criticizing the Trump administration's immigration policy.
Fox News' Gabriele Regalbuto contributed to this article.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Vogue
3 hours ago
- Vogue
The Anatomy of Amal Clooney's Style
Amal Clooney Season is upon us. Every summer like clockwork, the human rights lawyer and her actor husband, George Clooney, decamp to Lake Como for the summer, La Dolce Vita style. Clooney's Italian vacation style is the purest embodiment of her fashion: colorful, feminine, and impossibly glamorous. Still, no matter where she is in the world, Clooney is never anything but put together. While the couple and their children live in Los Angeles, lately she's been spending more time in New York as George leads Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway. But whether she's heading to dinner in a South of France villa or supporting her husband backstage, Clooney stays consistent, rocking jaw-dropping vintage, statement earrings, and Old Hollywood waves. In Elements of Style, we're distilling a celebrity's fashion sense into its most basic components. Here, we break down the five key pieces in Amal Clooney's closet. Prize Vintage Dresses Over the last several years, Clooney has amassed a closet full of pristine archival pieces from the naughties. While she has a clear preference for John Galliano's tenure at Christian Dior (who doesn't?), she also loves a vintage Versace moment. She often sources her enviable pieces from Tab Vintage in Los Angeles. What: John Galliano, Christian Dior, Versace, Jean-Louis Scherrer, Yves Saint Laurent Where: Dinner in Lake Como, the Cannes Film Festival, the DVF Awards Wear it with: Wedge heels, oversized sunglasses, ankle boots, matching coats A Wide-Brimmed Hat Nothing is more crucial in a vacation wardrobe than sun protection! Clooney is partial to the wide-brimmed sunhat. She most often wears a straw chapeau, but she's also rocked a black one. We love that she incorporated the headwear into her wedding festivities, wearing a white Stella McCartney to her civil ceremony. What: Stella McCartney, Zimmermann Where: Traipsing around the Amalfi Coast, Venetian docks, her own civil wedding ceremony Wear it with: Missoni shorts, a one-shoulder dress, canary yellow Giambattista Valli haute couture Oversized Sunglasses Clooney's sense of mystique lends heavily to people's fascination with her. And what's more mysterious than a pair of enormous, face-obscuring sunglasses? The barrister has plenty of sunnies in her collection, but she's most liable to be seen in square frames that completely shroud her eyes and eyebrows.


Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Bruce Springsteen's Berlin concert echoes with history and a stark warning
BERLIN — Veteran rock star Bruce Springsteen , a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, slammed the U.S. administration as 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous' during a concert Wednesday in Berlin. He was addressing tens of thousands of fans at a stadium built for the 1936 Olympic Games that still bears the scars of World War II and contains relics from the country's dark Nazi past.

Associated Press
3 hours ago
- Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Bruce Springsteen's Berlin concert
BERLIN (AP) — American rock star Bruce Springsteen, long a political opponent of President Donald Trump, performed before tens of thousands fans at a Berlin stadium where he denounced the U.S. administration as 'corrupt, incompetent and treasonous'. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.