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Claim: A Facebook post claims that Pope Francis has passed on.
Verdict: False! Available evidence from credible media organisations shows that Pope Francis is not dead. He is currently in the hospital responding to treatment, and the image shared by the Facebook user is AI-generated.
Full Text
On February 14, 2025, Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital for a severe respiratory tract infection. The infection worsened and swiftly degenerated into double pneumonia in both lungs, which made him experience difficulties in breathing.
In light of this, a Facebook page, ABC 168, posted on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, suggesting that the 88-year-old pontiff had passed.
The user wrote, “BREAKING NEWS!! Sad news of the passing of… See more…” The incomplete caption was accompanied by a link that takes you nowhere.
Although the Facebook user did not outrightly mention that the Roman Catholic supreme leader has died, the gloomy images showing the pope lying despondently on the hospital bed strongly suggest or depict that.
As of Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, the post has garnered over 1,000 reactions, 18,000 comments, and 13,000 shares.
Notably, the post attracted more comments and shares than likes, which indicates its acceptance by unsuspecting users.
Meanwhile, the comment section shows that many users believed the post and shared their condolences.
Richard Edemekaye wrote, “Rest in the bosom of the Lord.”
Another user, Englibert Moyo, asserted, “It’s the time for him; it’s now over his destiny. It’s finished time for him to face judgment…”
Similarly, Akinyemi Paul stated, “Rest in peace, Pope.”
Aside from the huge engagement the post has attracted, we came across similar posts by other Facebook users as seen here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Notably, the Facebook pages that shared similar claims also included similar images of the pope lying in a sick bed to give credence to the narrative.
Due to the Pope’s high profile and undisputed global followership, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim.
Verification
A keyword search on the claim’s veracity led us to several news reports about Pope Francis’s health condition.
National Catholic Reporter informed on Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025, that the Pope is recovering with no signs of infection after battling a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection in the hospital.
The media outlet quoted the Vatican’s statement, released at 6:45 PM local time on Mar. 1, 2025: “The Holy Father is without fever and shows no leukocytosis.”
On Mar. 2, 2025, Vatican News updated that the pope’s condition is stable, and he has been taken off the ventilator. The update made via a public statement also mentioned that although the pope continues to receive oxygen and has no fever, medical personnel have continued to monitor his situation.
“Today, too, the Holy Father’s clinical condition has remained stable. The Pope does not require non-invasive mechanical ventilation, only supplemental high-flow oxygenation. He does not have a fever. Given the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains guarded,” part of the statement reads.
Also, we noticed that the Facebook post was accompanied by collage photos of the pontiff in a bedridden state. However, a check on the notable media outlets that have reported the development revealed none of the pictures of the pope on a sick bed.
However, one particular image of the pope in a hospital bed receiving oxygen raised suspicion. DUBAWA analysed the image using Hive Moderation, an AI-powered image detector tool. The result reveals that the image was 99.9 per cent generated by AI material.
Conclusion
Pope Francis is not dead as claimed by several users on Facebook. Results from the church’s official website and other credible news outlets show that he is alive and responding to treatment in the hospital. Therefore, the claim is false.
