A cottage industry has sprung up around Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. Many of the revenue streams—even in Rome—are centered around Americans.
It was a fun moment to be online. When the news broke on May 8 that Pope Francis’s successor would be the first-ever American to hold the sacred position—and a Chicagoan, no less—social media erupted with celebration and Windy City-specific memes. Within days, some of those memes had morphed into t-shirts for sale.
