In this week’s real news that sounds like a Mad Libs game: Harry Styles was apparently spotted in the crowd of people outside of Saint Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, May 8, waiting to see white smoke emerge from the roof of the Sistine Chapel to signal the selection of Pope Francis’ successor.
“Harry Styles is so random, one day he’s at the grammys winning album of the year, then he’s running a marathon in japan, but he could also be in rome waiting for the announcement of the new pope, i love being his fan,” one X user wrote. Another added: “Harry literally your unemployed friend on a random tuesday, marathon in tokyo? he’s there. pope announcement? he’s there.”
Other fans joked that the newly-appointed pope, Robert Prevost, who will go by Pope Leo XIV, was actually waving directly at Styles when he addressed a crowd gathered to greet him. The musician’s spotting was part side quest, part manifestation. “Sources say it is unlikely that Harry Styles will be named the new Pope due to scheduling conflicts,” one fan wrote in the week leading up to the conclave.
Fans have been keeping tabs on Styles through sporadic updates from culture accounts like Pop Crave, which inspired the recent rise of Pope Crave. On April 26, the account shared: “Harry Styles spotted leaving the studio in Berlin recently with his headphones on.” Just a few days earlier, a photo the account posted of Styles in Berlin racked up 10,000 reposts and 103,000 likes.
Another update account, the Styles-specific Harry Crave, has been amplifying the yearning for his return for months. “It has now been exactly 1,000 days since @Harry_Styles last released new music, making it the longest droughtrry so far,” the account posted on Feb. 12, counting the days since Harry’s House arrived in 2022. Arguments followed about whether “hrought” or “droughtrry” is the proper term for “Harry Drought,” signaling the dire need for his return and/or the return of people having hobbies.
Styles popping up across Berlin, riding around London on Lime bikes, and attending Pope announcements in Vatican City make a strong case for getting offline and heading outside.
