A Chicago-born cardinal walks into a conclave. The rest of the joke tells itself. In the breathless day since Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff, the memes, doctored images and tongue-in-cheek references have piled up deeper than Chicago’s pizza and more loaded than its hot dog.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said he expects Pope Leo XIV "feels an obligation," to speak to what he called the issues of the day, amid "real challenges globally."