The ‘fantasy pope league’ on TikTok where users are betting on who will be the next pontiff
As the election of the successor to Pope Francis approaches, internet users are getting involved in an online sweepstake.
A TikToker has set up a ‘fantasy pope league’ as the Catholic Church prepares to elect a new pontiff, with thousands of people reported to have signed up.
The TikTok user @itismaxhooray announced the creation of the fantasy league on April 22, the day after it had been confirmed that Pope Francis had died at the age of 88, after a 12-year pontificate.
How does the ‘fantasy pope league’ work?
According to @itismaxhooray, participants in the league are each randomly assigned a selection of cardinals from the 252-strong College of Cardinals. Each player will score points depending on how their clergymen perform in next month’s papal election, known as a conclave.
Fantasy league participants can also earn bonus “pope points” by correctly answering quiz questions “about the incoming pope”. “These ‘pope points’ will be vital when it comes to the leaderboard,” @itismaxhooray says.
The deadline to join the league has now passed: registration was only open until Pope Francis’ funeral, which took place in the Vatican City on 26 April.
“More legitimate than the real conclave”
Nearly 2,000 internet users had signed up within a day of the announcement of the competition, @itismaxhooray has claimed.
“There are 10 times the number of people in this sweepstake as there are cardinals in the Catholic Church, making it bigger and therefore more legitimate than the real conclave,” he quipped on April 23.
It’s not clear what, if anything, the winner(s) of the ‘fantasy pope league’ will receive. @itismaxhooray has limited himself to saying there “might” be a prize.
@itismaxhooray PLAY THE FANTASY POPE LEAGUE NOW! Link in bio #pope #league #conclave #fun #competition #fantasy
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When is the conclave? Who votes?
The Vatican has announced that the conclave to elect the new pope will begin on Wednesday, May 7.
While there are just over 250 cardinals, only 135 of them are eligible to vote in the election, as participation has been limited to those under 80 since a rule change overseen by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Who can become pope?
Catholic canon law does not limit eligibility for the papacy to cardinals: any baptized, unmarried male can in theory serve as pontiff.
However, no non-cardinal has been chosen as pope since the 14th century and no man over 80 has been elected since Pope Gregory XII in 1406.
Who are the favorites to become pope?
Bookmakers appear to be confident that Pietro Parolin, described as a ‘continuity candidate’ who was close to Pope Francis, will become the new head of the Catholic Church. The 70-year-old Italian is rated at +225 to win the conclave, according to Sports Book Review.
Other contenders with the shortest odds include the Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle (+300), the Italian Matteo Zuppi (+550), the Ghanaian Peter Turkson (+600) and the Guinean Robert Sarah (+700).
If elected, Tagle would be the first ever Asian pope, while Turkson and Sarah would both be the first Black pope in modern history.
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