As Hyperallergic’s resident adult Catholic convert, I am obliged to bring you my insight on the papal conclave unfolding before our eyes via screens big and small.
That’s right, you read that correctly. I was baptized, received communion, and was confirmed into the Catholic church over the course of a single day at the ripe age of 22. This fact gives me as much authority over the faith as my adult convert counterpart, JD Vance, which is to say, none. At least the internet does not think I killed the pope.
My adult baptism could be seen as a meme, one of the many we’ve seen churned out by netizens in the last two days, and saying that might be a cardinal sin (pun intended). However, I did learn a thing or two about the conclave while studying for my rapid-fire adult baptism under a priest with ties to the Vatican. I learned nothing from Conclave (2024), though, because it lulled me to sleep on a red-eye transcontinental flight.
By observing the actions of the late Pope Francis, I was able to guide my understanding of the vast political spectrum along which Catholic theologians exist, even under the papal supremacy, a position of power, which the church believes was handed down by Jesus through the apostle Saint Peter.
Pope Francis welcomed some of the leftist, anti-capitalist offshoots of the church, including personally meeting the Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, founder of the theological movement within the faith known as Liberation Theology, which advocated for the church to take an active role in eradicating poverty.
Francis’s comparatively warmer welcoming of the liberation theologian stood in stark contrast to his conservative predecessor, Pope Benedict, who investigated the leftist Dominican friar and also the leftist theology. Francis also took a clear moral position against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, welcomed trans women into the church, and declared homosexuality was not a crime (but that it was a sin).
Back to the memes. A far more conservative pope could emerge from this sequestered conclave than the one we’ve — whether religious or secular — known for more than a decade. A more hardline conservative papal win may reflect a growing trend of conservative leadership in Western democracies and silence a powerful voice of dissent, as Francis often was.
Some memes verge on silly and stupid, like New York City Parks’s X post of a cardinal bird with the caption “Conclave.” Others compare the conclave to the NFL draft and Survivor, reminding me of the entertainment spectacles of transfers of power over the past year. The ornate cardinal and papal attire recall the media’s fascination with Melania Trump’s inauguration outfit.
As with the United States election, internet users are drawing parallels between the papal selection event and other milestones of film and popular culture, not just Conclave but also 500 Days of Summer (2009). In November, following the final election results, the internet invoked Mean Girls (2004) to describe Pennsylvania, which swung red.
Today, May 7, some mocked the New York Times’s live blog coverage of the conclave, including a two-sentence update declaring that two seagulls sat on the roof. Pope Crave, the X account, seemingly has press access to the Vatican and is providing live on-the-ground coverage.
These memes contend with a possibly frightening transfer of power and reflect a growing mockery of authority.
