25 Of The Most Hilarious Memes About The New Pope

Chicago fans are already imagining new menu items taking over the Vatican.

Photoshoppers gave the city a makeover, with its own Costco and Waffle House.

In Vatican tradition, white smoke signals the election of a new pontiff.

In meme tradition, if there’s smoke, then Snoop Dogg is meant to be around.

When a new pope is elected, white smoke is released from a chimney by burning the ballots, along with special chemicals, in a specially designed stove within the chapel.

If the color of the smoke is black, it means no pope has been elected.

In order to maintain secrecy with the election process, the tradition of burning ballot papers dates back to at least the 15th century.

When a chimney was installed in the Sistine Chapel in the 18th century, the smoke that billowed out from the burning of ballot papers was not intended to be a public signal. But onlookers eventually began interpreting it as an outcome of the selection process.

With time, the smoke became customary, and it's color became deliberate. Specific chemicals are used to create the black (for “no pope yet”) and white smoke (for we have a pope!).

Now, can pink smoke for a gender reveal be created? Well, chemically it should be possible. But what might the Vatican say? Habemus no thanks!

The Wisconsin city of Green Bay, home to the Green Bay Packers, couldn't catch a break amid the flood of memes.

The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears have one of the most legendary rivalries in American sports history, and Chicagoans often joke about disliking everything Green Bay.

“God bless everyone in the world, except Green Bay,” one said.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, will be the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter.

He was born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent. After serving as an altar boy, he was ordained in 1982 and moved to Peru a few years later.

“Habemus Papam”—Latin for “We have a Pope”—is the traditional, sacred declaration made by the senior cardinal deacon following the papal conclave.

The announcement is made from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City to proclaim the election of a new pope.

Memes ran wild on X with Chicagoans excitedly claiming that the new papacy means all things will be served with a hearty dose of deep dish pizza.

Some joked that the Pope’s first blessing will be delivered with a side of Chicago’s finest!

With a Chicago-born Pope in charge, it’s only a matter of time before the Vatican’s food menu includes deep-dish pizza, or at least some netizens thought so.

The Vatican is the only place where global news is delivered via chimney smoke and nobody questions it.

When the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel to elect a pope, they are locked inside with no phones, no recorders, and no contact with the outside world.

Moments before the Sistine Chapel’s chimney began billowing white smoke, a seagull appeared on the roof, prompting the crowd at St. Peter’s Square to squeal with joy. 

Some Catholics believed it was an “omen.”

It wasn't just ordinary, humble social media users that churned out memes and jokes.

Even Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, didn't miss out on the fun.

“Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” the mayor wrote on X.

“Congratulations to the first American Pope Leo XIV! We hope to welcome you back home soon,” he added.

Cozy, caffeinated, and watching history unfold from their bedroom—this was every papal watcher on May 8.

One didn't have to be a cardinal or a Catholic to refresh their feed nonstop.

May 8 was declared the “best meme day in Chicago,” courtesy of someone from the South Side of the city becoming the Supreme Pontiff.

Cardinal Robert Prevost not only became Pope Leo XIV, but also meme royalty.

A video of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa looking distracted amid a sea of red hats and robes went viral online. The internet felt he was giving “main character energy.”

“Wow he’s literally me,” read one comment, while another said, “Can't believe he managed to become a cardinal.”

Some people are struggling to wrap their heads around the Pope being from Chicago.

It’s “just aesthetically wrong,” one said.

Moments before white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney, a family of seagulls appeared to be entertaining onlookers in the Vatican.
“Our #Conclave distraction … seagull family on our roof in Rome,” one said.

“He’s been up there for hours. Is he guarding? Is he judging? Is he... campaigning? You know what? BIRD FOR POPE. He's got the hat vibes already,” wrote another.

It was an episode of 'Keeping Up with the Cardinals' for some netizens, as they sat scrolling on social media for the latest papal updates.

Since the passing of Pope Francis, the world held its breath and wondered who would be the next Supreme Pontiff.

From Rome to the Chicago's South Side, people kept their eyes on the Vatican, waiting and speculating.

And when it turned out to be a Chicago native? The memes practically wrote themselves.

The irony behind all the Chicago-centric memes is that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was considered by many as one of the least American of all the U.S. cardinals.

The new pope—a duel citizen of the US and Peru—worked in the South American country for a decade and then served as the bishop of Chiclayo, another Peruvian city, from 2014 to 2023.

During his first address to the public in St. Peter’s Square, he was able to display his fluency in Spanish and Italian as well.

Meme-makers reported live from St. Peter’s Square.

Netizens turned one of the Vatican’s most solemn moments into a live-tweeting event as the world waited to see the next successor.

Two huge events in one day: the Pope’s election and Trisha Paytas celebrating her 37th birthday.

Divine timing or divine intervention? You decide.

Robert Francis Prevost is a graduate from Villanova—the only Augustinian Catholic university in the US.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Pennsylvania University, and then went on to receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.

Villanova is also the alma mater of three Knicks players: Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.

Villanova has produced many greats, but now it's giving us Pope Leo XIV.

The election of the new pope gave an endless supply of Knicks memes, as players like Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart also went to Villanova.

You can take the cardinal out of Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago out of the cardinal.

While some obsessed over his American roots, others believed his experience outside of the US would make him attuned to global needs.

“He's somebody that, even though he's from the West, would be very attentive to the needs of a global church,” CNN's Vatican analyst Elise Allen said. “You're talking about somebody who spent over half of his ecclesial career abroad as a missionary in Peru.”

Before Pope Leo XIV took the throne of St Peter, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was a strong favorite among netizens for the role.

The Italian Catholic prelate in Jerusalem spurred several memes online himself over the last few days.

“If Pizzaballa becomes pope, we are officially in the Spaceballs timeline,” one said online.