US Edition‘DA POPE!’ Leo XIV’s Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor
- Pope Leo XIV, the 267th pontiff and first American pope, was elected on Thursday, May 8, 2025, and appeared at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
- Many were surprised by the election of Pope Leo XIV, who previously held the title of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, because he seems to support the Chicago White Sox rather than the widely assumed Cubs.
- This Chicago connection sparked widespread humor and memes involving local culture, baseball, and Catholic themes, which have been enthusiastically embraced by both comedians and residents.
- Comedians like Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon expressed unexpected excitement, with Fallon joking about "deep-dish communion wafers" from the pope nicknamed "Bobby Bratwurst," while local voices noted shared joy in the city.
- The event has made the papacy feel more human and fostered a sense of hometown pride in Chicago, suggesting the pope's election has softened the image of the office through relatable cultural ties.
83 Articles
83 Articles
Deep-Dish Pizza and Malört in the Vatican? Chicago Pope Spurs Memes.
Deep-dish pizza shall be served in place of communion wafers. Michael Jordan shall be declared the Greatest of All Time. And the Trevi Fountain shall be dyed green. If internet memes became reality, Pope Leo XIV of Dolton, Ill., a southern suburb of Chicago, would turn Vatican City into Downtown Chicago, complete with a reflective kidney bean statue and carts serving ketchup-less hot dogs. Malört — Chicago’s unofficial liquor with a burning-tire…
Fed's Goolsbee relishes running 'Da Bank' in 'Da Pope's' hometown
Neither tariffs, nor plunging consumer and business sentiment, nor President Donald Trump’s pointed criticism have swayed the Federal Reserve on interest rates — but the pick of the first US-born pope appears to have moved one US central banker. “The 7th District is unique in its industry composition and is the only Fed district to have produced a pope,” Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee boasted on Friday, May 9, in opening remarks to an eve…
Washington Top News
‘DA POPE!’ Leo XIV’s Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor
A Chicago-born cardinal walks into a conclave. The rest of the joke tells itself. In the breathless day since Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff, the memes, doctored images and tongue-in-cheek references have piled up deeper than Chicago’s pizza and more loaded than its hot dog, seemingly irresistible to comics and commoners alike. Stained-glass windows depicting a dunking Michael Jordan? A change in canon law to make ketchup-…
Associated Press News
'DA POPE!' Leo XIV's Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor
A Chicago-born cardinal walks into a conclave. The rest of the joke tells itself. In the breathless day since Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff, the memes, doctored images and tongue-in-cheek references have piled up deeper than Chicago’s pizza and more loaded than its hot dog.
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