Overview

The 2025 Pope Conclave, also known as 2025 Papal Conclave, refers to a sacred Catholic Church ritual to elect a new Pope following the death of Pope Francis on April 21st, 2025, at the age of 88. The conclave will assemble the College of Cardinals in Vatican City to elect the next Pope. The term "conclave" derives from the Latin for "with key," indicating the secrecy of the election process. With over 250 cardinals globally, about 135 will participate in the election, which is expected to occur in May 2025. The event garnered viral attention online across multiple social media platforms following the Pope's death, as netizens started to investigate the Pope candidates and created fan edits and memes of their favorite cardinals. The papal conclave also caused a resurgence of memes of the 2024 thriller film Conclave. On May 8th, 2025, the Conclave decided on Cardinal Robert Prevost to become the 267th Pope, who chose the papal name Pope Leo XIV.

Background

On April 21st, 2025, Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, passed away in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, after a prolonged illness that included double pneumonia. As mandated by the Church's rules regarding the papal succession, a conclave^[1] is expected to take place between May 6th and 12th, 2025, within 15 to 20 days following his death to elect a new Pope.

TODAY's official YouTube^[2] channel uploaded a video summarizing what the conclave is and the process for electing a new Pope. The video (seen below) received more than 50,000 views and 690 likes in a day.

Developments

According to the Guardian,^[8] the conclave will begin with cardinal electors gathering under the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, where they will take an oath of secrecy. Votes will be held daily until a candidate receives a two-thirds majority. Black or white smoke will signal the outcome of each voting round.

Candidates

According to Times Magazine,^[3] there are more than 250 total cardinals in the Catholic Church, all of whom are men. However, only 120 cardinals under the age of 80 can actually vote in the conclave.

On April 21st, 2025, X^[4] user @Rantaramic posted an image showing a list of nine candidates that, purportedly, are most likely will be the next Pope, as well as details about their stances regarding human rights topics, political views inside the Church and their citizenship. The tweet received over 31 million views and 71,000 likes in a day.

Pope Leo XIV

On May 8th, 2025, the American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, choosing the name Pope Leo XIV.

Online Reactions

After the announcement of Pope Francis's death, social media saw an influx of conclave memes and debate regarding who will be the next Pope as the topic trended online.

For example, on April 21st, 2025, X^[5] user @willfulchaos posted an edited picture of actress Sarah Jessica Parker wearing a cardinal's clothing, writing, "LET’S HAVE A CONCLAVE." The post (seen below) received more than 1 million views and 59,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, TikTok^[6] user @julesandthevibe about her excitement for the upcoming conclave to elect a new Pope (seen below), which garnered over 367,000 plays and 49,000 likes in a day.

The event also inspired memes on Reddit, as Redditor u/Handy_Andy posted a recaption meme to the /r/30ROCK^[7] subreddit channel about the conclave on April 21st, 2025. The post (seen below) amassed more than 1,400 upvotes and 40 comments in a day.

Related Memes

Conclave Smoke Signal Parodies

Conclave Smoke Signal Parodies refers to memes and jokes about the smoke signal emitted from the Sistine Chapel during the papal conclave. Beginning on May 7th, 2025, the College of Cardinals locked themselves into the Sistine Chapel to commence the selection of a new Pope (an event known as the conclave), weeks after the death of Pope Francis in April 2025. Leading up to the selection of the new pope, numerous internet users posted memes and Photoshop edits about the ritual, altering images of the smoke emitting from the chimney to joke about what the differently colored smoke could mean.

Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV is the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. Born Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV was the first Pope born and raised in the United States of America. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in the suburb of Dolton. Pope Leo XIV was chosen by the Conclave in May 2025, following the death of Pope Francis. Memes flooded social media platforms like Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok following the event. Many of the memes were about Pope Leo XIV being from Chicago.

Pope Leo XIV Chicago Memes

Pope Leo XIV Chicago Memes, also known as Chicago Pope Memes or Pope Chicago Memes, refers to a series of memes about the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV (formerly Robert Prevost), being from Chicago, Illinois. He was the first American Pope as well. Pope Leo XIV was humorously portrayed with Chicago stereotypes and cliches, spreading in memes on Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok, among other social media sites, in May 2025, following the Conclave's decision. In particular, a photograph of Pope Leo XIV at the 2005 MLB World Series in support of the Chicago White Sox went viral online, spawning viral discourse and praise.

Search Interest

External References