How did you learn a new pope had been elected?
Were you glued to a livestream? Maybe you got a push alert. Or, if you are a particularly online type of person, you might have learned from the X account @ClubConcrave, a fan account for the 2024 film about a dramatized papal election process. In recent days, the account has become a source not just for memes but also for regular updates from Vatican City.
Susan Bin, a 30-year-old artist in Dallas, started @ClubConcrave last year after becoming obsessed with the film, growing a small community of similarly devoted fans and creating a “Conclave”-inspired zine to raise money for charity.
When the white smoke started billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, Mx. Bin, who runs the account with another administrator, was ready to post the news within seconds, sharing a litany of memes including a cat stylized as a cardinal vaping. (@ClubConcrave, which also goes by Pope Crave, a riff on the popular culture account Pop Crave, beat the official Vatican account to the news by four minutes.)
In an interview that has been has been edited and condensed, Mx. Bin discussed the account’s unlikely path from the fringes of fandom to the mainstream.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Are you Catholic?
I am not Catholic! I am so not Catholic. I have been to mass once in my life.
You seem to have a bit of a fascination with the pope. When did this begin?
I’m just a little bit normal about the pope. I’m an artist and I studied fine art — most artists who go through a studio system have some familiarity with the Renaissance and a lot of that’s deeply embedded in the Catholic Church.
What drew you to “Conclave?”
I don’t typically watch these types of dramatic films. I watch a lot of horror and nonfiction. “Conclave” is not normally a film I would watch, but I saw the trailer was well cut. I then read the novel because I couldn’t find the script. So I knew exactly what I was getting into when I watched “Conclave,” but the way in which the film transformed the text really caught me off guard. In a good way!
How many times do you think you’ve seen it at this point?
Oh, probably in the 40s. I know. Please don’t laugh.
What is its most meme-able moment?
I’m going to go for my favorite and just say the loud Lavazza coffee machine. That’s my personal favorite. I know it’s not like the definitive one, but it makes me giggle.
You turned that obsession into an online community. Tell me how that happened?
I’m not obviously the only person that thought “Conclave” was so prime and ripe for memeing. As soon as I watched, I opened Letterboxd and someone had already written like “the most diabolical vape hit of all time.” I was like I need to talk to people about “Conclave,” period. I just kept drawing fan art and making memes. Around November we had a small fandom and I started a “Conclave” charity zine. The community grew a lot after the Oscars when the movie was released in Japan and Korea. And then, you know, the real conclave happened.
In addition to posting memes, you’ve also been using your account @ClubConcrave to give people news updates. Are you actually in Vatican City?
I am currently physically not in the Vatican, but metaphysically I am always in the Vatican and in their walls. We do have Pope Cravers on the ground, though. We have a Discord group that grew out of the zine and the zine contributors, and so that’s truly global. There’s even some people inside the Vatican.
Inside? Do you mean they work for the …
I cannot say.
Why do you think popular culture, whether that is memes or film and television, is so obsessed with the pope?
I would say that the aesthetics and patriarchy of the Catholic Church and its institution is like next to none. It’s pretty crazy. I think also the lore … not me referring to a religious institution as lore, but like it has a deep lore. It’s an institution that is a bunch of contradictions, it’s supposed to be sacred and yet in its history it has been super political. It exists as a state and yet, it isn’t. It’s like a video game entity.
Has anyone online gotten mad about your content?
Honestly, no. Everyone’s been in pretty good spirits. I think this account finds the people it needs to. It comes from a place of sincerity and humor. Pope Francis spoke in Italian about how it’s important to have humor and light in life and that lot of people see Catholic dogma — the institution — as heavy and labor-intensive and, essentially, not fun. I am going on the record and saying I think Pope Francis would enjoy these memes.
