Papa l'americano: Pope Leo's election sparks memes referencing hit 2010 dance track

Cardinal Robert Prevost made history this week as the first American to lead the Catholic Church, as he was elected by the conclave to succeed the late Pope Francis, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.

Leo, who has been openly critical of the Trump administration’s stance on immigration, told the crowd outside St Peter’s Basilica on Friday: “Peace be with you all.”

And while there was concern in the run-up to the decision about picking an American pope – Reverend James Bretzke, a theology professor at Ohio’s John Carroll University, told USA Today that “America’s image in the world simply is too powerful – and to be blunt, ugly” – social media users have relished the opportunity to share memes about the major event.

In particular, noting Leo is the first American in the role, many have shared videos and posts referencing the 2010 dance track by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP, 'We No Speak Americano' – given its main hook is the phrase 'pa pa l’americano'.

Reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in July 2010, the track samples the Italian song 'Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano' by Renato Carosone, and is probably familiar to most people as a result of it appearing in The Inbetweeners Movie a year later.

According to Google Trends, which tracks spikes in terms entered into the search engine over time, searches for 'We No Speak Americano' peaked at 7pm on Thursday, not long after white smoke emerged from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel at 6pm local time.

'Pa pa l’americano' also saw a similar spike around the same time.

Essentially, everyone on social media was soon referencing the song:

Spanish comedian José Mota also made the joke, sharing a parody video of the Pope dancing to the hit track:

Much like his late predecessor, Pope Leo is getting the meme treatment – and it’s not even been a week.

Why not read…

• Best reactions to Robert Prevost being elected as Pope Leo XIV
• How much will the newly elected Pope Leo XIV get paid?

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.