While the world awaited the outcome of the first round of voting in the papal conclave, an unlikely figure captured global attention: a seagull perched calmly next to the Vatican’s chimney, live-streamed to millions.
With white smoke now having confirmed the election of a new pope, it’s clear the seagull’s moment of accidental stardom briefly rivalled that of the sacred proceedings themselves. The bird, standing sentinel atop the chimney before the official signal was released, quickly became an internet sensation, prompting a flood of memes, parody accounts, and tongue-in-cheek commentary on social media.
This isn’t the first time a feathered spectator has seized the moment. During the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, a similar seagull earned viral fame, inspiring the resurrection of X accounts like @VaticanSeagulls, whose bio now reads: “Ciao! We’re just hangin’ here waitin’ on some smoke!” The account’s location? “On the chimney,” naturally.
As attention swirled around the Sistine Chapel, so too did a torrent of irreverent content. AI-generated videos depicted cardinals dancing, smoking joints, or even playing Twister beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes—humorous exaggerations that circulated widely, including among reporters inside the Vatican press office. One particularly viral image showed a cardinal lighting another’s cigarette, amassing over five million views.
Meanwhile, others took liberties with wordplay. A popular Italian meme spoofed the word conclave (literally “with key,” but phonetically resembling “with club”), reimagining the sacred gathering as a medieval brawl. Images of cardinals wielding wooden clubs under the gaze of the Last Judgment fresco were shared thousands of times.
The conclave’s unexpected resonance with Gen Z has been growing since Jude Law paraded in papal briefs in The Young Pope, and last year’s thriller Conclave only fuelled interest. Real-life cardinals added to the relatability: Archbishop Fernando Chomali posted a video of himself hand-washing his white shirt before entering the conclave.
Front-runner Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines found himself both celebrated and criticised when a video of him singing John Lennon’s Imagine went viral. While many praised his warmth, conservative critics latched onto the song’s call for “no religion” as a point of contention.
Not to be outdone by the Church’s own social media moment, former US President Donald Trump entered the fray with an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal robes. Though he denied involvement, the image sparked more parody: one meme depicted orange smoke billowing from the Sistine chimney—neither black nor white, but unmistakably Trumpian.
Despite the noise, solemnity ultimately prevailed as white smoke signalled the cardinals’ decision. But in an age where memes, mockery, and metaphors sit side by side with religion, even the election of a new pope can’t escape the reach of the internet—or the gaze of a seagull.
