Fantapapa and Name The Cardinal: The games on the conclave that become viral

While the cardinal voters hurry the latest preparatory meetings of the conclave, thousands of people are already betting – virtually – for the profile that the next Pope will embody.

Since April 21, the Italian game “Fantapapa“It is triumphing among hundreds of users who have fun predicting who will be the next successor of Pedro from the creation of her own” team “of cardinals. It is a virtual game very similar to the famous Football League Fantasybut instead of players you have to choose 11 cardinals who consider themselves papable.

As if it was a alignment of a football team, in Fantapapa There is a “Papable Captain” (the favorite), a “goalkeeper” (the one considered less likely) and nine more “starting players”. The game also includes fun predictions on the name of the future pontiff, the date on which it will be chosen, the number of scrutinies that it will receive, the religious order to which it belongs and even more concrete details, as if it will wear glasses or not.

In just a week, about 60,000 people, mostly Italians, have registered with this playful platform.

Although it adopts the language of entertainment, Fantapapa It also has a pedagogical purpose. “The dynamics of power in the Vatican generate a lot of curiosity. The game allows people to understand part of that mystery,” said Pietro Pace, one of its creators to the local newspaper Day.

The platform only has a version in Italian, although it offers a small help in English through “Galileo”, a virtual assistant who guides the user while playing.

The results of the most used cardinals could be interpreted as a kind of popular thermometer on the wishes surrounding the choice of the new Pope. According to their creators, among the favorites are, for example, Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi; the cardinal secretary of state during Francisco’s pontificate, Pietro Parolin; or Cardinal Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle.

But there are also surprises. For example, Italian cardinal Fabio Baggio is located in seventh place, perhaps for sharing a last name with the famous footballer Roberto Baggio.

Another curiosity is that the Ukrainian Mykola Bychok, 45, the youngest cardinal in the world has been mostly placed in the “goalkeeper” position, that is, as the least probable candidate to be the next pontiff.

The departure gun after which the points will be counted will be just after the master of ceremonies, Mons. Diego Ravelli, pronounced the “extra omnes”, with which the doors will close tightly to give way to the secret choice.

The successes will be revealed when Pope 267 of the Church has effectively chosen. Then the points will be granted to the players. In the end a ranking With the most used cardinals. However, there is no material prize. “Whoever wins will simply get eternal glory,” Pace joked.

Other Games: Name The Cardinal

However, Fantapapa is not the only game that has broken into the Internet against conclave, which demonstrates the expectation that generates even in non -religious fields.

In parallel, another game has also appeared Name the Cardinal, A kind of ecclesial trivial in which the challenge is to recognize the largest possible number of voters.

There are 135 in the game (although there are 133 in the real conclave) and it challenges you to identify one by one: for each success, 10 points are added. But if you make eight mistakes, the game ends.

Its objective is clear: to help players memorize the faces and names of the cardinals, facing the key moment in which one of them will be chosen Pope.