Pope betting goes digital: Inside Italy's viral Fantapapa game
Pope betting fever hits as cardinals choose the Catholic Church's new leader.
As 133 cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel for the secret process of choosing the next pope, people around the world are doing something very different -- they're placing bets on who it might be.
If you trust the betting public, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, is the most likely to be the next pope. Oddschecker, a betting odds website, shows him leading the pack, followed by Cardinal Luis Tagle from the Philippines, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi from Italy and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from Italy.
However, Zuppi is the favorite on a popular Italian app called Fantapapa. It works like other fantasy sports leagues but for picking the next pope, and has become a sensation across Italy.
"This game is a really fun game to play with friends and have a laugh," Federico La Rocca, a 23-year-old student, told ABC News.
The game is simple: First, you create a team of cardinals, just like a fantasy league. Then you pick your team captain -- the cardinal you think will become pope.
It's become a family affair for Alessandra Morisco, who said she plays in a league with her two daughters, mother and sister.
"A lot of my friends are playing, even priests," Morisco told ABC News. "I think the power of this app is that it connects a serious task with an Italian way of taking things, with serenity and happiness. And it fosters a sense of community around this big historical event."
Players can also predict the new pope's first words to the public, what name he will choose and how many failed votes it will take before a new pope is elected.
"I'm supporting [Cardinal Parolin]," Morisco said. "It's a funny way of saying that, of course, I would like to have him as pope, but it is not up to me -- it is the Holy Spirit that will decide."
The app's creators, Pietro Pace and Mauro Vanetti, are surprised by its success.
"It's crazy for us. We developed a video game just for friends, not for everyone in Italy," Pace told ABC News.
The pair rushed to develop Fantapapa in February, ahead of the conclave.
"We don't even have a graphic designer," Vanetti said. "This is embarrassing, but there's no artists involved. So the cardinals, for example, I made them. They look a bit like my dog."
While Fantapapa might be new, betting on popes isn't. Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, who studies economics at Nottingham Business School, told ABC News that records of betting on the Pope can be traced back to 1503.
"Roman bankers would take bets off merchants... they would get tips from inside the conclave of what might be going on," he said. "So, they'd be able to set the odds."
Today's pope betting market is bigger than ever. Oddschecker reports that more than 300,000 people from 140 countries have checked their site for odds. While betting on the pope isn't allowed on regulated U.S. sportsbooks, Oddschecker estimates people have bet over $17 million on unregulated sites.
Some Catholic Church officials have called betting on the pope "indecent and shameful."
However, Morisco told ABC News she didn't feel any Catholic guilt about playing Fantapapa.
"I think it can make stronger the relationship with our religion," she said. "While we wait, we can pray or play."
Unlike betting sites, Fantapapa doesn't involve any money -- app co-creator Pace suggested it offers a greater reward.
"If you win the FantaPapa, you can have eternal glory," he said. "This is one important prize."
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