How Pope's Conclave became a pop culture phenomenon

Fandom is a strange beast. There are plenty of dedicated online and offline fanbases for those who don't have a business that has stan. Some notable examples include films tar; The occupational relationship between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Sexual undertones My little pony Series; And now the election of a new Pope.

As a lifelong Catholic, I have never seen anything like a passionate supporter of Conclave, the secret process in which Cropet Francis' successor was discovered this week (and I once saw a grown woman crying and crying in bloody gloves that appear to belong to Padre Pio). For hundreds of years, the business of electing the next Pope was a secret mysterious incident, something that happened behind a closed door. The elected cardinal was a holy stranger among other strangers. Even the last Conclave to elect Pope Francis took place just before the true social media boom. On AM radio.

But this time it was an online spectacle, a semi-iron pour of fandom for both the 1.4 billion Catholics around the world and the other billions of sudden billions of religions who joined forces on X and joined forces to favourites. Conclave took over the internet for most of this week: Seeing smoke coming from a chimney in Vatican City “Social Events of the year”. The Met Gala was digged in and the world forgot that Arsenal would clash with PSG. All we were concerned about was the Conclave. movie conclave A post comparing art and reality exploded with new popularity. Someone invented it Conclave flavored ice cream. Harry Styles has been discovered In the crowds of Vatican City. Posts erupted about the aesthetics of high Catholicism, people suddenly became experts on how cardiacs are seen Tell their conservative or liberal politics through fashion (Crucified size, robe length). This wasn't just a conclave ContiveCore.

In other words, we treated the cardiacs collectively. So they either were political candidates, or, as one person said, they treated a “middle-aged boy band.” This favourite was Eurovision, not the Catholic Church. Cardinals' Tagle and Pizzabara have emerged as internet favourites. Legacy of speaking in Gaza. TechBros was inevitably trying to carry out insider trading throughout the lawsuit.

The entire spectacle may have temporarily revitalized the current X, Nazi cemetery at one glorious moment, but it also introduced elements of consumption, or elements that therapy could speak the internet. Catholic theology says that the Pope is absolutely possible as a representative of God on Earth, no matter who he is. When he is elected to the Cardinals, the Catholics intend to believe that the Cardinals not only chose their favourites or fellows, but also that God is speaking through them. It's difficult to convey this through a sarcasmy post about the new Pope who eats pizza from the town of Chicago and works at diners Bearor Being a Chapel Lawnbut.

When Pope Leo XIV was elected on Thursday, the bubbles of the concrete cows pulsated and threatened to pop. Anxious and uncertain tranquility fell over the internet crowd as the crowds of St. Peter's Square exploded into a jubilant “Orez.” Will Leo become a liberal pope or a conservative? No one was sure. Contivecore spent a long time squeezing hands on candidates in Ghana and Hungary, cheering on Filipino and Italian candidates, and blinding to the reality that the new leader of the Catholic Church is American. Yes, I used to criticize JD Vance on Twitter, but all Americans are the same Americans.

One of the joys of the first conclaves of the internet was the presence of PopeCrave. conclave You can somehow get a certified reporting and follow the cardinal of any movement within the cathedral. After the announcement of Pope Leo's election, one of the account administrators briefly posted an infographic about what his new Pope would look like, “We need to know.” The charge sheet was serious. He had criticised the so-called “gender ideology” and “western generosity” on LGBTQ+ issues during Peru. He was accused of misleading allegations of sexual assault against a priest in his own parish. “As a lesbian Catholic, I am disappointed,” a post by co-administrator Noelia Caballero concluded.

Lots of conclave posters shared her concerns. It makes sense, at least from an internet fandom standpoint. Fandom has always been oddly coded, unlikely but happy allies in Catholicism, and, for all its conservative doctrines, it is coded oddly, at least aesthetically. One of the Popecrave administrators has a professional background Queer Catholic MinistryThe other is international human rights law. It filled the theme of the gala, with pageants, wine, and the heavenly body. As one user said, “If the Catholic Church didn't want gay people to be so interested in it, they should stop killing them so vigorously.”

But the problem with trying to queer-code the Catholic fandom is that by making it possible with TV shows, movies, or boys' bands, it serves fans who don't only exist on the internet, but also consume that content. The 1.4 billion Catholics around the world must lead and represent Pope Leo. can It affects the direction of the church in small ways, but not important – Introducing Vatican 2 from the 1960sonce perceived as dangerously liberal, the Pope saw that the church would need “renewal” or would bleed and die.

Many of the criticisms levelled in Pope Leo yesterday were valid, but for him it was not an individual. They are issues within the wider church that are overlooked when we flatten it into an internet fandom. Is “Has the Pope acted slowly on the allegations of administrative sexual abuse” or “Can the Pope accept more LGBTQ+ people” like asking “The Pope is Catholic”?

All Conclave's madness revealed a bitter truth in the heart of something. You can't stop watching shows at the Catholic Church or stop burning vinyl records. Perhaps a better way to think about it is that there is a difference between “cultural Catholicism” (likes Rosary Beads, reads Graham Green, blessing with instinct, and praying to St. Anthony when he loses his key despite not actually believing in God) and “praying to St. Anthony when he loses his key without eating actual cassolicism, not eating meat, but not eating meat, without eating sacred Catholicism), etc. etc.) Most ComconiveCore Catholics on the Internet don't want to belong to the latter. However, the former is definitely fun, so it's difficult to deny access to the former. I know that I choose to awaken the Marxist Pope memes rather than confessing on almost any day. (But not Sunday. We're resting on Sunday.)