I know more about Pope Leo XIV—Cardinal Robert Prevost, if you’re nasty—after the last 24 hours than I’ve known about any other pope in my lifetime.
Welcome to the papal digital age. The pontiff is going to be a TikTok star.
The conclave choosing a successor to Pope Francis was already the rare monoculture moment at a time when everyone’s attention is divided into 45 directions, warring politics make universal conversation impossible, and the only instance we’re all ever talking about the same thing is when incest is happening on HBO.
The fact that he’s American and from Chicago, and therefore ripe for a million memes, made the selection even more of a cultural moment.
The water cooler has been filled with Holy Water, and we’re all belly flopping into it. Baptism by social-media cannonball.
I’m a gay Irish Catholic cliché, which means I’m lapsed when it comes to going to mass, still say prayers every day out of habit, and feel guilty about something or other 90 percent of the time. The pope has always been a big deal in my life, but there’s something about Pope Leo that, just in this last day, feels huge.
Monoculture may be disappearing, but stan culture is thriving. There’s almost a Tiger Beat-esque vibe to the pureness and earnestness of cheering for Pope Leo. Nothing in the Year of Our Internet 2025 remains positive for long—surely, backlash will be brewing—but in the immediate moment, the pope has transcended from religious and cultural figure to something more akin to a major Hollywood celebrity. It’s fascinating.
“AURA” 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥#papa #habemuspapam #aura #yeat #pope #edit #edits #roma #perte #perteeee #newpope #viralvideos #viral #auramoment
#Many Americans are expressing excitement over the election of the new Pope Leo, seeing it as a moment of hope, unity, and renewed spiritual leadership. From major cities to small towns, Catholics and non-Catholics alike are watching closely, inspired by his message and eager to see how his leadership might shape the future of the global Church. #meme #MemeCut #PopeLeo #NewPope #PopeLeoI #LeoThePope #CatholicChurch #VaticanNews #PapalElection #HabemusPapam #PopeLeoXXIV #NewPontiff #PopeAnnouncement #FaithAndLeadership #HolySee #PapalTradition #LeaderOfCatholics #RomeAndFaith #PopeOfHope #ChurchRenewal #GlobalCatholicism #PontifexLeo
tailgates in the piazza #popeleo #newpope #popeleoxiv #conclave #midwesternpope #midwestprincess #popefrancis
Thursday was a hilarious day to be on the internet. The sheer number of memes that were being made about Pope Leo and the fact that Cardinal Prevost was from Chicago was overwhelming, in the best way. I spent the day in the steady hum of giggle, just scrolling through posts and jokes mashing up Catholic humor and Chicago stereotypes. As Pope Leo was being meme’d on the scale of Katy Perry being sent to space, I wondered what it will mean to have a pope that is so accessible to the Extremely Online.
Vatican City now that we have an American pope: pic.twitter.com/LaGvtj7mZU
— Hayden (@the_transit_guy) May 8, 2025
— Netflix (@netflix) May 8, 2025
New Pope serving the body of Christ at mass pic.twitter.com/retLuaWp0o
— Asscela Express 🚅 (@biz_socks) May 8, 2025
We’re all nothing if not narcissists, so the fact that Pope Leo is American immediately makes him more important to us. And that lingual kinship quickly brings into focus all the other ways that he may be more relatable.
He’s the first pope who may have voted for Kelly Clarkson on American Idol. He probably is aware of Jersey Shore and Keeping Up With the Kardashians; in other words, the pope could have a conversation about Snooki and Kim K. We know what baseball team he roots for. It’s a fair bet that he also saw Conclave.
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was, that the conclave made TikTok stars out of several cardinals. Cardinals Tagle, Zuppi, and Pizzaballa were the subject of fancams and loving videos of the kind typically reserved for celebrity crushes like Shawn Mendes or Timothée Chalamet. (All due respect to Cardinal Prevost, but the fact that we could have had a Pope Pizzaballa is like a 30 Rock joke coming to life, in the best way.)
We’re in an age where public figures are stalked, exalted, and turned more into brands than humans on social media. It’s bizarre, but also makes sense, that an event like the conclave and papal selection happening at this moment of digital media means that the pope is among those social stars.
There’s obviously a lot of curiosity over what the new era of the Catholic Church will be like with Pope Leo in charge. But there’s also going to be a new era of papal celebrity that accompanies that. I even expect the Vatican, who already made semi-controversial moves like setting up a Twitter account for the pope, to use that to its advantage.
Are we ready for a pontiff who may one
The post Are We Ready for Pope Leo to Be a TikTok Celebrity? appeared first on The Daily Beast.
