Emojis Philadelphia needs for Pope Francis’ visit

A couple of weeks ago, Swyft Media released its Popemoji mobile app, which features unique, textable animations of Pope Francis in honor of his first visit to the U.S. But while Philadelphia is fairly well-represented emoji-wise, it does feel as if something is missing.

After all, across 52 pope-related "stickers" and 14 moving GIFs in Swyft's app, the five Philadelphia-themed options are just a little cliché, with options including the pope eating a cheesesteak, the pope mugging at the LOVE statue, the pope giving a thumbs up at the Liberty Bell, and the pope running up the Art Museum steps.

There is, in that sense, a little something to be desired.

Lucky for us, Swyft reportedly could continue to update its Popemoji app with new GIFs and stickers, depending on how well-used it becomes in the lead-up to the end of the month.

Which, of course, would be great news for Philly, what with emojis' uncanny ability to make communication quicker and easier. That could ultimately be a blessing for us, considering the potential data transmission difficulties Philly could face for the event.

So, with all that in mind, we went ahead and created some additional suggestions for the Popemoji app that we hope can both represent Philadelphia well on the emoji stage and offer a little utility while Il Papa is in town.

Here, a list of five emojis Philadelphia needs for Pope Francis' visit:

Archbishop Chaput

Ah, Archbishop Charles Chaput: Philly's staunch conservative foil to Pope Hope's more liberal bent. This one is for the contrarians among us — or for if you see the two holy men burying the ideological hatchet at some point during the pope's visit.

Religious Phanatic-ism

Just as Catholicism has its own cultural and religious leaders, so too does Philadelphia — even if the 2015 Phillies are a historically disappointing team. And besides, an emoji is better than some old baseball card any day.

Philly Jesus

If you're attending the pope festivities, you'll likely see him out there, but Michael Grant was preaching Jesus' teachings on the Parkway long before Pope Francis decided to come to town. Possibly with a bit more homophobia, but still. Actually, maybe just use this one as a warning.

If you didn't stow your car somewhere safe outside the PPA's coming "significant security perimeter" in Center City by Sept. 25, this ought to make explaining where your vehicle went slightly more convenient. Best pray you don't have to use it, though.

Mayor Michael Nutter

Look, if Pope Francis gets a whole app dedicated to images of his likeness for coming to America, then the guy who helped facilitate his Philly visit deserves at least one emoji as well. Besides, it ought to help Philadelphians "get excited" for the visit like Nutter suggests.

Illustrations by Rob Tornoe