Almost immediately after the Tribune published an article Thursday mentioning that the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV had dined with old friends at Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood months prior, Joe

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.