PRAISE be! This gives a whole new meaning to the term dog collar – pet pooches dressed up as the Pope.

On Thursday, when Pope Leo XIV was declared the new leader of the Catholic Church, he donned the classic red and gold attire that his predecessor, Pope Francis, had set aside.

This likely delighted the owners of these devout dogs, who believed that resembling the supreme pontiff required a wardrobe full of grandeur.

In 2015, when Francis visited the US, there was a trend for dressing up dogs to look like the Vatican chief.

Now that Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, from Chicago, has become the first American pope, that congregation is sure to grow.

Meryl Espiniero from New York even dressed her dog, Romeo Valentino, in papal attire at St Peter’s Square in Rome as she awaited the conclave’s decision this week.

Here, Grant Rollings presents our top of the papal pups.