I never knew there were so many Catholics in the world today. Thanks to social media and the much-lamented demise of the beloved Pope Francis, I now know.
Alas, in times like these, social media platforms quickly become arenas for performative grief, forums where people who feel the pressure to present themselves as grieving or empathetic can publicly do so, even if they didn't know the deceased well or never particularly cared about them.
My reflexive reaction to events of this kind is to analyse them through the prism of communicological theory. Ever a student of communication.
I can recall a few theories that might explain the gush of emotions that has greeted the passing of Pope Francis, particularly when we think of the commiserations that have emanated from the unlikeliest of sources.
Of course, that's not to say that the pontiff wasn't widely loved and admired; indeed, Francis was one of the most popular popes in recent times.
But when you see him being adulated even by world leaders who reviled him and opposed what he stood for, then you can't help but wonder.
Here, then, are some of the theories that come to mind. First, there's Erving Goffman's impression management theory.
Propounded in 1959, it proposes that people manage their public image by controlling the information they share about themselves or about their attitude to other people.
Therefore, posting condolence messages about others might be a way to portray oneself as caring, compassionate, and respectful, even if one didn't genuinely feel that way.
Next is Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson's (1987) politeness theory, which suggests that people use language and behaviour to maintain social relationships and avoid conflict.
Consequently, if I'm friends with devout Catholics, I might be keen at this time to display my supposed dolour at the pope's passing in order to ingratiate myself with my pious friends.
One other supposition that might explain this phenomenon is social norms theory.
Proposed by Goffman in 1959 and further developed by Robert Cialdini in 1984, it implies that people tend to conform to descriptive and injunctive social norms in order to avoid disapproval, gain approval, and maintain relationships.
Expressing condolences on social media, posing for photographs, or even reading long eulogies at a funeral are all good, but they are too often theatrical performances, byproducts of stagecraft, duties performed as a part of social media etiquette.
The best epitaph to deceased people whom we love is to live their ideals, to promote their aspirations, to symbolise what they stood for.
Pope Francis was a champion of the poor, a campaigner for the rights of migrants, an advocate for world peace, a promoter of the fight against climate change.
How many of us who have serenaded the world with online wailing since his passing will undertake to carry the baton and promote (in any little way) the causes that were so dear to the late pontiff?