The election of Pope Leo XIV on Thursday was a monumental day for Catholics all over the world — as well as posters everywhere.
The former Cardinal Robert Prevost made history as the first American pope, and specifically the first pope from the great city of Chicago. Yes, the new supreme pontiff, leader of the largest religious denomination in the world, is from the land of da Bears, da Bulls, and da Bean; of deep dish pizza, Italian beef, and hot dogs — no ketchup. The pope is a White Sox fan (talk about suffering for your sins). The pope may have even done a shot of Malört (also talk about suffering for your sins).
As such, the ascension of Pope Leo XIV prompted one of those genuinely great, increasingly rare, days on social media — the kind of day where it feels like Twitter, not X — with a full bounty of goofy vibes and memes. So many memes, especially Chicago-style ones.
Pope Leo XIV’s reveal at the Vatican was set to the Alan Parsons Project instrumental “Sirius,” which the Chicago Bulls made famous as their introduction song. It was also paired with Chief Keef’s “Love Sosa.”
Prevost’s election, one person joked, meant, “No ketchup on hot dogs [was] now canonical law.” It meant, another quipped, that Chicago had “produced a Pope before a QB who throws 4000 yards.” It meant, someone else sagely noted, that the pope knew “exactly what Dave Matthews did on Aug. 8, 2004.”
The memes even spilled out into the real world. The Chicago Sun-Times fully leaned in with a fantastic front-page headline that stated simply, “Da Pope!” And The Wieners Circle — the famous Chicago dog stand in the Lincoln Park neighborhood — changed its sign to read: “Canes nostros ipse comedit,” which is Latin for, “He has eaten our dogs.”
While the Chicago connection prompted the most jokes, Pope Leo XIV’s time as an undergrad at Villanova University during the late-Seventies got some play from the Philadelphia suburbs crowd (this author, and his high school friends group chat, included). So while some enquiring minds may want to know whether the pope has done a shot of Malört, more spiritually-inclined minds need to know his Wawa order.
It was even through the Villanova connection that New Yorkers — bless them — were able to make the election of Pope Leo XIV about themselves, or at least about the Knicks. With the Knicks’ star trio of fellow Villanova alums Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges in the midst of a major playoff run, perhaps the arrival of Pope Leo XIV is a sign that the good Lord is finally on the the side of the long-suffering team.
Number one Knicks fan Spike Lee certainly thinks so.
#ChicagoStyle #Memes
