Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update didn’t hold back in its first show after Pope Francis’ death. With a new American pontiff in Pope Leo XIV and political chaos swirling around JD Vance, co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che turned the news cycle into another round of sharp, unfiltered jokes.
Colin Jost mocks conservative outrage over 'woke' American pope
Jost opened the segment with a familiar mix of self-awareness and sarcasm. As a Catholic, he said he was proud of the new pope — “which is a sin, and now I’m ashamed.” The humor only escalated when he noted that you can “tell he’s from the South Side because he’s got his hands up,” referencing Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s Chicago roots.
The real target, though, was the conservative backlash. Some right-wing voices have already labeled Pope Leo XIV as too “woke,” simply because of his past criticisms of Trump and hardline immigration policies. Jost didn’t mince words: “How woke can a 69-year-old man from Chicago be? It’s not like he came out and said, ‘Hey, I’m Pope Leo XIV, he/him.’”
His punchline landed where it was meant to: “The reality is there are no woke Catholics. If you’re a woke Catholic, you’re just not Catholic anymore.”
Che takes aim at Trump’s Alcatraz plan and film tariff threats
Michael Che followed up with a biting takedown of Trump’s latest odd ideas. The former president’s plan to reopen Alcatraz as a prison for “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders” didn’t escape ridicule. Che turned it into a parental diss, saying Trump’s description “horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable and weak” also fits his five kids.
On the topic of Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-made films, Che made sure to note that it won’t affect him — since all the movies he watches are filmed “in a Florida condo on a leather couch.” It was a quick, effective jab on a policy that’s already confusing Hollywood.
Jost and Che riff on AI-Trump pope image and Catholic Church’s reaction
The Catholic theme continued when Che brought up the awkward online reaction to an AI-generated image of Trump as a pope. “I just find it hard to believe that anyone in the Catholic Church would be into something so juvenile,” Che said, drawing a laugh with the unintended double meaning.
Even Jost seemed caught off guard for a moment before pushing forward. The bit was classic Weekend Update: sharp, timely, and willing to toe the line without slipping into cheap shocks.
Marcello Hernández’s Movie Guy steals scenes with Spiderweb and Tariff takes
Adding to the momentum was Marcello Hernández as Movie Guy. His latest persona — a guy who just walked into a spiderweb — gave a goofy but fun spin on Trump’s film tariffs. When asked about “Jurassic World Rebirth,” Hernández mispronounced Scarlett Johansson’s name — not knowing Jost is married to her.
Hernández’s improvisation (“And my wife is Rihanna!”) earned quick laughs and showed how Weekend Update still knows how to blend personality with punchlines.
How Weekend Update turned a controversial week into classic SNL satire
This week’s Weekend Update didn’t just report on the news — it reframed it. From the Vatican to Vance, and Trump’s never-ending spiral of bad ideas, Jost and Che found the angles that mattered to the audience. They didn’t just make jokes; they made sense of a chaotic moment through satire.
And that’s the point. Whether it’s a sketch implying JD Vance’s role in the pope’s death (as SNL did in a separate cold open) or a punchline about priests and political parrots, Weekend Update remains the place where absurdity meets accountability — even if it’s dressed as a late-night joke.
With tight writing, sharp delivery, and no real desire to offend for the sake of it, Weekend Update continues to be the smartest draw on a show that’s been in the game for 50 years. And this week, it reminded everyone why that still matters.