About

Pope Leo XIV or Pope Leo the 14th 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 the month prior. 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 or being American in general.

Background

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955 and raised in the nearby suburb of Dolton. He attended Villanova University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1977. In 1982, he earned a Master of Divinity degree from Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union. He then spent two decades as a bishop in Peru. Cardinal Prevost ran the Vatican office that selects and manages bishops globally before taking the role as Pope in 2025, following the death of Pope Francis. He was 69 at the time.^[1][2]

Prevost was announced as the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church on May 8th, 2025.^[2]

Online History

Before he was named Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost was active on Twitter / X^[3] on the account @drprevost. His first tweet^[4] on the account was posted on August 20th, 2011, and read, "Awaiting the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI at Cuatro Vientos. All united in prayer" (shown below).

"J.D. Vance Is Wrong" Tweet

On February 3rd, 2025, Prevost tweeted^[5] about U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, criticizing the VP for his interpretation of the Moral Circles Heatmap. The tweet received over 100,000 likes over three months (shown below).

Many of the likes surfaced on May 8th, 2025, the day he was chosen as the Pope, following viral tweets^[16] and a New York Times^[6] article about the tweet.

Online Presence

News of Pope Leo XIV's selection spread on Reddit on May 8th, 2025, spawning numerous discussion threads, memes and other reactions.

For instance, posts about Pope Leo XIV on the /r/europe^[14] and /r/interestingasfuck^[15] subreddits received over 44,000 and 54,000 upvotes, respectively, in a few hours.

On May 8th, Redditor OppositeChampion9471 shared a 69 meme to the /r/Memes ^[17] subreddit, showing Pope Leo XIV with top and bottom Impact font captions, reading, "New Pope is 69 / Nice." The post gained over 6,100 upvotes in a few hours (shown below).

Pope Leo XIV's Oldest Brother's Reaction

On May 8th, 2025, Pope Leo XIV's oldest brother, Louis Prevost, was interviewed by Port Charlotte WWSB. In the clip, which was posted to TikTok,^[18] he said that he was shocked by the announcement.

Chicago Memes

Memes and viral posts about Pope Leo XIV surfaced en masse on May 8th, 2025. Many of the jokes were about the Pope being from Chicago.

For instance, on May 8th, X^[7] user @RealRCIV tweeted, "Crazy that Leo the XIV made his entrance in the most Chicago way possible," attaching a video of the Pope walking out to Chief Keef's "Love Sosa." The tweet received over 34,000 likes in eight hours (shown below). Others on X^[8] shared identical posts within the hour.

Crazy that Leo the XIV made his entrance in the most Chicago way possible pic.twitter.com/MDbLpeSQGx

— Reginald IV (@RealRCIV) May 8, 2025

2005 MLB World Series Photo

On May 8th, 2025, the Chicago Sun-Times^[9] published an article about a photograph taken during the 2005 MLB World Series between the Chicago Wite Sox and Houston Astros, in which Pope Leo XIV can be seen in the top left corner (shown below). The White Sox went on to sweep the Astros for the title.

The photo went viral on social media sites like X^[10][11] soon after.

First American Pope Memes

Others shared jokes about Pope Leo XIV being the first American Pope. For instance, on May 8th, 2025, X^[12] user @HeroDividend tweeted, "Vatican City after electing an American Pope," attaching a crudely photoshopped image of the Vatican City to look like a suburban shopping center. The tweet received over 254,000 likes in 10 hours (shown below).

"Woke Pope"

Viral posts speculating that Pope Leo XIV was woke also surfaced on social media, centering on a comparison to Pope Francis, who was an adamant supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.

For instance, on May 8th, X^[13] user @NebsGoodTakes tweeted, "Chat, is he woke?" parodying the Chat, is This Real? meme. The quote-tweet gained over 178,000 likes in a few hours (shown below).

Similarly, on May 8th, 2025, X^[16] user @OneFeIISwoop quote-tweeted a post regarding Pope Leo XIV's "J.D. Vance is wrong" tweet.^[5] @OneFeIISwoop said, "Sorry, but imagine getting bodied by two consecutive Popes," relating the tweet to the J.D. Vance Killed Pope Francis Theory and other memes about VP Vance's meeting with Pope Francis just before his death. The QT received over 86,000 likes in a few hours (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References