--- title: Pope Francis Raps in PopeBars Hashtag description: Twitter hashtag PopeBars is full of memes, rap lyrics inspired by photo of Pope Francis holding a microphone in the Central African Republic canonical: https://time.com/4129766/pope-francis-popebars-hashtag-rap-rapping/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-30T21:46:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:55.096Z og:title: These are the Funniest #PopeBars Rap Lyrics for Pope Francis og:description: The hashtag is going viral og:url: https://time.com/4129766/pope-francis-popebars-hashtag-rap-rapping/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf491fb28aca0b621/6988731c8e06017f08463897/gettyimages-499116306.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3600 og:image:height: 2025 og:image:alt: CAFRICA-VATICAN-POPE-AFRICA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These are the Funniest #PopeBars Rap Lyrics for Pope Francis twitter:description: The hashtag is going viral twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf491fb28aca0b621/6988731c8e06017f08463897/gettyimages-499116306.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These are the Funniest #PopeBars Rap Lyrics for Pope Francis > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy [Watch (HLS stream): 2013 Person of the Year: Pope Francis Reimagines the Papacy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYRnrfUV.m3u8) (3:30)  _Published 2013-12-11. From his comments on gays to his penchant for Twitter, Pope Francis's every move has garnered strong reactions from the world media._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Nov 30, 2015 9:46 PM UTC  Pope Francis gestures as he gives his blessing during a visit to an internally displaced people camp at St. Saviour parish in Bangui on November 29, 2015. Pope Francis gestures as he gives his blessing during a visit to an internally displaced people camp at St. Saviour parish in Bangui on November 29, 2015. Gianluigi Guercia/AFP—Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Nov 30, 2015 9:46 PM UTC The latest rapper to go viral on Twitter is…Pope Francis. Twitter users started composing rap lyrics for the pontiff through the hashtag #PopeBars, which was inspired by photos that show him speaking into a microphone at a camp for displaced people Sunday in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. It attracted celebrity attention from MacArthur “genius grant” winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of _Hamilton_, a Broadway rap musical about Alexander Hamilton’s life, and _Scandal_ star Kerry Washington, who just chimed in to call it [“the best”](https://twitter.com/kerrywashington/status/671401318167134208) hashtag. Some of the funniest examples: > [](https://twitter.com/Lin%5FManuel/status/671372236478128128) > [](https://twitter.com/FloydSupreme/status/671308306116444161) > [](https://twitter.com/BarrettAll/status/671399216091131906) > [](https://twitter.com/sgjohn%5Fvt/status/671353006512713728) > [](https://twitter.com/etwizle/status/671332310327889920) > [](https://twitter.com/TrivWorks/status/671400935613210624) > [](https://twitter.com/Chef%5FLu%5FBu/status/671407128939241473) > [](https://twitter.com/petermanseau/status/671351155314843648) > [](https://twitter.com/SimcoxStephen/status/671359241366732801) > [](https://twitter.com/stephanfaris/status/671359333851144192) Incidentally, Pope Francis has released a pop rock album called _Wake Up!_ But so far it has gotten [mixed reviews](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/11/30/pope-franciss-wake-up-prog-rock-album-what-critics-are-saying/), so who knows whether the hashtag will inspire him to produce a rap album now. ## Transcript -[ Foreign Language ] >> He is the first named Francis, the first from Latin America, the first Jesuit. >> The first to take selfies, and make personal phone calls in reply to letters written by ordinary Catholics. >> A pope who carries his own bag. A pope who abandoned the isolating opulence of the Vatican's papal apartment for more modest Vatican digs. >> This man who served as a cardinal in Buenos Aires, where he lived a modest life and is known as something of a champion for the poor. -[ Foreign Language ] >> Francis is the choice of cardinals said to be divided into 2 factions: the reformers who want to clean up the Vatican's dysfunctional bureaucracy and focus on bringing new energy to this global institution, and the old guard who want to maintain the status quo. -[ Foreign Language ] >> He has a very open mind in order to analyze all the themes. For him, there is not a closed theme. -" We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage, and the use of contraceptive methods ." >> And specific about gay priests. " If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge ?" >> Choosing to become Pope Francis, he takes the name of 13th century preacher, Saint Francis Assisi, who lived a life of poverty. >> And he spoke of material things saying, " Love of money is the root of all evil ." -[ Foreign Language ] >> He seems somebody who lives out the teachings of Christ. Incredible humility, incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, to the poor. >> He comes from a country where the church has had to learn how to be missionary again, and I think he wants the entire church to learn from that experience. >> And he's also somebody who's, I think, first and foremost, thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away. How to find what's good in them as opposed to condemn them. -[ Foreign Language ] >> Vinicio went with his aunt, Caterina, to St. Peter's Square, where Pope Francis approached him, and without a moment's hesitation, kissed and hugged him. " When he embraced me ," he recalls, " I quivered and I felt a great warmth ." >> He laughs with a big laugh, and it's coming out from his heart, because he knows that he must transmit an image of hope, of a-- of hope through his laugh. -[ Foreign Language ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4129766/pope-francis-popebars-hashtag-rap-rapping/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4129766/pope-francis-popebars-hashtag-rap-rapping/"},"headline":"These are the Funniest #PopeBars Rap Lyrics for Pope Francis","datePublished":"2015-11-30T21:46:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:55.096Z","description":"The hashtag is going viral","url":"https://time.com/4129766/pope-francis-popebars-hashtag-rap-rapping/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf491fb28aca0b621/6988731c8e06017f08463897/gettyimages-499116306.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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