If you haven’t been watching the 24-hour livestream of the conclave chimney—first, where have you been? But second, you likely missed a colorful comment by a CBS anchor.
“The one thing we know they’re not doing is checking Instagram because their devices have all been confiscated,” Crux editor John Allen said.
CBS’ Tony Dokoupil, 44, then awkwardly joked: “I believe the kids call it ‘rawdogging’ it.”
The innuendo has in fact taken off on Gen-Z’s side of the internet, but it was a pretty weird thing to say about a group of the world’s most sacred.
Rawdogging is also a slang term when referring to sex without a condom.
The papal conclave is a divine ceremony where a gathering of voting-eligible cardinals gather to choose the next pope. Maybe not the best time to whip out the youth’s sexual slang.
Dokoupil went on to explain the term as “if you’re gonna go through a long period of time with no electronic device.”
“Oh, right,” said CBS’ Delia Gallagher. “Well, they’re of a certain age, so they might be used to it.”
The youngest cardinal in the running is 45, meaning they’re likely not familiar with the pain of attending an event with no phone.
They’re all prohibited from making any contact with the outside world or leaving at all.
On Wednesday all 133 red-robed men filed into the Sistine Chapel and the church’s ancient doors sealed shut behind them. Their internet access shut down at 9 a.m. ET, meaning they’re sadly missing the memes, which have taken over social media.
But once the electors select the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, maybe they’ll be permitted to see the “conclave party” gifs.
The cardinals have a divisive choice: pick a deeply traditional new pontiff or elect someone closer to the late Pope Francis, the world’s first Latin American Holy Father who advocated for progressive reforms.
After Francis died in April at 88, the religious world has been buzzing with rumors about the church’s next pick, with even President Donald Trump trying to insert himself in the running.
A new pontiff is chosen with a two-thirds majority, and it usually lasts six days or less (although there was once a 51-day conclave that started in 1830). They keep mediating on their choices until they burn their ballots and white smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.
Then, the leader makes his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to display his fancy new white garments for the world to see.
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