In the immediate aftermath of the death of Pope Francis, fake videos were circulating on social media.
Or, we should say, re-circulating – as this particular item of fakery had already been circulated several years ago: and was quickly debunked.
That hasn’t stopped dishonest people from spreading the video again after the news of the pontiff’s passing was announced.
If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that there are a lot of bad-faith actors out there and that at least fifty percent of what’s on social media is of dubious authenticity.
In this particular clip, which features doctored footage from 2014 and was especially circulating in 2021, the Pope seems to confess to his role in the ‘Jesuit Conspiracy’ and to confirm the New World Order.
Unsurprisingly, those with an unfriendly disposition either towards the Catholic Church in general or this Pope in particular were keen to mislead people with this clip.
This includes a lot of MAGA people too, who are generally not fans of this Pope, due to his ‘liberal’ image, his sympathetic views towards refugees, and his criticisms of Donald Trump. Some of the reactions to the pontiff’s death have been unsurprisingly celebratory.
Never one to display much human decency, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, for example, tweeted that ‘Evil is being defeated by the hand of God’; though she later denied referring to the Pope’s death.
In truth though, even a lot of the more conservative Catholics have been critical of this Pope.
Again, the particular fake video in question was already debunked. This one didn’t even need AI or ‘deep fake’: his words were simply mistranslated into English to deliberately reinforce some items of conspiracy lore, particularly connected to religious End-Times obsessions.
The accurate translation shows he was simply delivering a message about Christian unity and brotherhood.
It’s bemusing why anyone would believe the Pope would film a video saying things like “I am ashamed to tell you this, but I have [a] secret agenda to deceive you” and “you will receive the Mark of the Beast“.
But I guess people believe anything if it corresponds to an existing belief or perception. And that’s probably the key to the proliferation of fake viral content.
Ironically, the Papacy itself has been speaking about online misinformation and fake news a lot in recent years: especially since fake stories particularly about the Pope have been commonplace.
In fact, the last few months have seen a litany of conspiratorial stories about his health conditions, with numerous claims even that he was already dead some time ago.
Though probably untrue, that one actually was a little tempting: as it’s a bit curious that the Pope, who’s reportedly been at death’s door several times in recent months, would eventually pass away at Easter specifically.
But no, he was definitely alive on Easter Sunday: and was seen by thousands of people in St Peter’s Square during the Urbi et Orbi.
He also, strangely enough, met with Catholic convert J.D Vance the day before his death: two men who weren’t fond of each other and said highly critical things about each other.
Anyway no, Pope Francis did not ‘confess’ to any conspiracy. This is just another item of fraud floating in an online sea of fraudulent content.
Which is not to say that controversies or theories surrounding the Catholic Church or even the late Pope Francis himself are without validity.
The misdemeanors (and I’m using a polite word there) of the Vatican and the Roman Church, both historical and contemporary, could fill an encyclopedia.
Historically speaking, the Church of Rome could be regarded as one of the most terrible, corrupt entities in world history.
And in more contemporary terms, even putting aside the obvious cover-ups or complicity in child sexual abuse, multiple books have been written just about the conspiracies involving the Vatican bankers.
But that’s a whole other subject.
And spreading false content – like the aforementioned video clip – doesn’t help anyone.
You could even argue that the more overly imaginative and embellished conspiracy ‘content’ actually serves to detract from the more real-world conspiracies that should be more widely publicised.
An obvious example being the flood of over-excited online content last Christmas about the Pope ‘opening portals’ or ‘doorways to hell’ in the Vatican: when in fact all of that stuff had mundane religious explanations.
But that kind of viral crack does much better click-bait business than, say, detailed investigations or exposés into the child-abuse cover ups or the shady dealings of wealthy cardinals and Vatican elites.
Also, irrespective of my general view of the Catholic Church and the Papal institution (and, as a rule, I try to avoid commenting on religion as much as possible), this particular Pope has arguably been a best case scenario, relatively progressive, highly focused on the poor and marginalised, and a seemingly genuine advocate for peace.
Which seems more in keeping with the spirit of the gospels than the Vatican has traditionally been.
And given some of the horrendous popes that have reigned during the two-thousand-year supposed line of succession from Peter, this Pope’s brief tenure has to be considered a relatively positive one.
He has also been, for example, one of the very few Western leaders to suggest that what has been occurring in Gaza should be examined as a genocide – something that our political leaders have refused to do.
It’s predictable that the death of Pope Francis (real name Jorge Mario Bergoglio) would prompt more conspiracy theories though.
As well as the usual items of lore cropping up: such as a supposed Nostradamus prophecy or the oft-cited ‘Prophecy of the Popes’ (which they claim predicts Bergoglio to be the final pope, and yes, you guessed it – the start of the End Times).
The latter is a speculative book supposedly discovered in the Vatican’s secret archives in 1590 by a Benedictine monk, and allegedly prophesies the reigns of every pope: and it has been cited repeatedly over the years by believers, though its reality has always been disputed and its authenticity questioned.
If you’re into Vatican related conspiracy theories though, my absolute favorite is the ‘ChronoVisor‘: that the Vatican has a device capable of seeing into the past (and that they used it, among other things, to see the Crucifixion). Seriously, look it up, it’s fantastic.
It’s still very curious that the Pope passed away at Easter though.
