On January 5, 2022, circus performers juggled and performed acrobatics to a cover of “Megalovania” during entertainment near the end of Pope Francis’s General Audience at the Vatican. The unlikely soundtrack is confirmed; why it was chosen is not.
What happened at the Vatican?
Contemporary coverage reported that jugglers and acrobats performed to a cover of “Megalovania” at the January 5, 2022 General Audience. The music played during entertainment near the end of the event, rather than as a song Pope Francis was reported to have requested. Shacknews’s January 6 account identifies the performance and its setting.
“Megalovania” is a track associated with Toby Fox’s 2015 game Undertale. The combination of a video-game theme and a papal audience quickly became an internet curiosity. Know Your Meme’s January 6 coverage captured the immediate bewilderment in one post: “WHY WAS MEGALOVANIA IN TODAY’S GENERAL AUDIENCE FROM THE POPE WHY?”
Did Pope Francis choose the song?
The available contemporary accounts establish that the performers used the music, but they do not establish who chose it or why. There is no verified evidence in these accounts that Pope Francis asked for “Megalovania,” recognized it, or had played Undertale. Treating the song as his personal selection goes beyond what is known.
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- High-quality digibook
- 12-page booklet of art and notes
- Music by Toby Fox
- Arranged by David Peacock
- Performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales
What is the MatPat connection?
A possible explanation circulated because Matthew “MatPat” Patrick reportedly gave Pope Francis a copy of Undertale during a 2016 Vatican visit. That earlier gift makes for an amusing coincidence, but it does not show that it influenced the circus performance six years later. Shacknews reports the gift as background; neither it nor the other contemporary coverage verifies a link between the gift and the choice of music.
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- High-quality digibook
- 12-page booklet of art and notes
- Music by Toby Fox
- Arranged by David Peacock
- Performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales
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What remains uncertain?
- The performers’ identity: A Wikimedia Commons page for an explanatory video identifies the troupe as Rony Roller Circus, but that is a video description, not a primary record of the event. The Commons file page is best treated as a qualified secondary identification.
- The music details: The sources reviewed do not establish the exact musicians or arrangement beyond describing it as a cover of “Megalovania.”
- The reason for the choice: No verified explanation from the performers or an organizer is established in the contemporary reporting.
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