No, Pope Francis is not dead
If your time is short
- Pope Francis is alive and addressed the public April 21.
The title of a 50-minute video that’s being shared among believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory on social media claims that “Pope Francis is dead.”
That’s wrong. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The video was shared online as early as April 20. Since then, Pope Francis’ verified Twitter account has tweeted four times, most recently writing that “the Lord of life wants us to be full of life, and he tells us the secret of life: we come to possess it only by giving it away.”
On April 21, he also addressed the public from the Vatican during what’s known as a general audience.
On April 22, he delivered a message for Earth Day, but it was pre-recorded.
We found nothing to suggest that he is dead. There is no news coverage, nor any credible reports from the Vatican or elsewhere.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire.
Our Sources
Facebook post, April 20, 2021
Pope Francis Twitter account, visited April 23, 2021
Vatican News, April 21 2021 General Audience of Pope Francis, April 21, 2021
National Catholic Reporter, Pope Francis, in Earth Day messages, warns ‘we are at the edge’ on climate change, April 22, 2021
