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.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Pope Leo XIV and his family have a long history on Chicago's South Side. Long before Robert Prevost was elected by his fellow Cardinals, he was a friend to a South Side family.