The pop star was photographed on May 8 in attendance at the conclave election of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, which is a photo that has now gone viral.

The ritual for electing a new pope took social media by storm this week as content creators reacted to the ancient tradition with memes, skits and parodies.

Pope Leo XIV appears at the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for his first Sunday blessing after his election, in St. Peter¥s Square at the Vatican, Sunday May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) Pope Leo XIV appears at the central balcony of St.

Thousands in Vatican Square cheered as white smoke billowed from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a new pope has been chosen.

In a move that bridges centuries of tradition with the digital age, Pope Leo XIV is officially keeping the papacy online. According to a press release from the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication, the new pontiff will maintain an active presence on social media through the official papal accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that taxes citizens living abroad. Thus, thanks to his American passport, the 69-year-old Chicago-born pope, known until last week as Robert Prevost, will likely need to file a tax return to the U.S. government just like any other citizen, experts told Fortune.

Still, it was an exciting moment for the Americans who were at the Vatican that day. Mariner says he and his wife were in a restaurant in Rome at the time, surrounded by dozens of U.S. citizens. When the new pope was announced, Mariner heard many of the patrons joyfully exclaim, “He’s an American!”

American Pope promises to have an ‘an active social media presence’ after using his old account to criticize Trump - Pope Benedict XVI was the first pope to use an official social media account to sha