How TikTok is bringing Gen Z closer to the Catholic Church

Digital natives are blending centuries-old rituals with cheeky or witty online humor

- Mara Cepeda

MANILA - Behind the Vatican's unyielding walls, centuries of secrecy have cloaked the process of choosing the next leader of the Catholic Church. But not this year.

Gen Z - digital natives born between 1997 and 2012 - are taking the papal conclave into the algorithm age, turning the process of electing a successor to the late Pope Francis into something that feels less like a sacred ritual and more like a Miss Universe contest.

The contestants? Elderly men in red robes. The crown? Spiritual authority over nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.

On video-sharing platform TikTok, American internet personality and comedian Rob Anderson's clip dubbed the conclave the "Pope Games", describing it as a "Sistine Chapel sleepover" where cardinals vote for the next pontiff. He then ranked the papabili, or potential popes - using gay terminology to explain where each cardinal stands on Church doctrine, from fundamentalist to reformist to somewhere in between.

Mr. Anderson's irreverent take has gone viral, racking up over five million views and pulling centuries-old Catholic discourse straight into Gen Z's feed.

Among the breakout stars is Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, often dubbed the "Asian Francis" for his warmth and progressive views, traits reminiscent of the late pontiff. On TikTok, Cardinal Tagle has become meme gold: One viral edit shows him joking that he knows only three Polish words: kielbasa (sausage), pierniczki (gingerbread) and vodka. There are also several videos joking that karaoke would be a nightly event at the Vatican if a Filipino becomes the next pope.

In the past, conclaves were hush-hush events as the world's faithful watched and waited for days for the results to be declared: white smoke from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel (a decision has been made) or black smoke (the voting continues). The previous conclave was in 2013, when social media was at a nascent stage.