Not since FleebagThe hot priest, who has the collective longing, has shown the Internet such a passion for priestly procedures.
When 133 cardinals entered the Sistine chapel in the Vatican on Wednesday to start a first round for a new Pope, the Internet broke out with memes, speculation and a surprising enthusiasm for the Vatican process. The mood online is the same parts of solemn liturgy and stance culture, since people share their preferred successors, change changes of their favorite cardinals and dissect centuries -old rituals as they dissect scenes from Edward Berger conclave.
And it’s not just Catholics who watch them with fascination. The Internet has transformed the successor protocols of the church into a kind of fandom. Think of March Madness Brackets, but for the prince of the church. Think of thirst contributions on cardinal packaging and Latin chants brat-Style club pop.
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And at the center of everything is @Popecrave, a fanonto dedicated to this conclave Film and in the broader sense of the spectacle of real papal succession.
With posts that blur the border between Cinephilia and Church-Gatz, Pope Crave has become a hub for papal content that is complete with fancams, liturgical drip analyzes and cassock comparisons of side-by-side comparisons. The report now has self-proclaimed “correspondents” on the ground in the Vatican City, live tweeting cardinal attacks, public reactions and even the color of the smoke with the breathless energy of the red carpet. It is awesome, ridiculous and deep online and captures the surreal moment in which centuries-old church rituals become a Fandom spectacle.
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Why is the internet, an ecosystem that is not exactly known for its deep liturgical literacy, is obsessed with the papal answer?
Part of it is the drama. The conclave contains all the license plates of the prestige television (or one of Oscar nominated film): secret meetings, old rituals, power struggles and a world-historical decision that was made behind closed doors. Add centuries of tradition, detailed costumes and the carefully observed fireplace of the Sistine Chapel, and you have an action that writes itself. It is Consequence hits game of Thrones (Maybe a shot of Mean Girlsalso), but with incense.
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It also helps that the whole thing moves quickly. In contrast to so many political processes in the real world, the conclave ends in the past in days, sometimes even hours. There is an urgency, a start, a center and an end that fits perfectly into an attention span in tictok size. You don’t have to pursue months of primary season. You just need to know what color the smoke has.
And then of course there is irony. The online fascination often begins with a single meme or fandom joke and quickly turns into sincere investments. What begins as a cosplay for Canon Law suddenly becomes a complete obsession with favorites, feuds and fan theories. It is not the case that the Internet has found religion; It is the case that it has found an action with missions, spectacle and a very stylish side line -up.
Regardless of whether the fascination with the smoke or the lingers, long after a new Pope has been announced, fades, the moment of the conclave in the algorithmic spotlight says something about what captivates us now. In an age of broken attention and constant scrolling, it turns out that even the oldest rituals can become viral.
