Vatican seeks to debunk fake news on health of Pope Francis
Italian TikToker Ottavo made his way unchallenged into a ward at Gemelli hospital in Rome, followed by a camera. His aim was to bolster a conspiracy theory circulating on social media for weeks: that the 88-year-old pontiff was dead “and the Vatican refuses to tell us”.
“There’s no security at all – nothing whatsoever,” he told his 10,000 followers in the video. “I would never have been able to get this far if he were there. For that reason, in my opinion, Pope Francis passed away.”
But Ottavo had overlooked one detail: the ward he infiltrated was not the one where Francis was being treated.
Before Ottavo, another TikToker nicknamed Er Bombolino had attempted to enter the hospital a few days earlier to prove that Francis was dead. He, too, ended up in the wrong ward.
Media reports in Italy have suggested one of the objectives of the pope’s audio was a response by the Vatican to fake news about the pontiff’s death.
Avvenire, a national daily newspaper affiliated with the Catholic church, wrote: “The pope’s audio message broadcast last night is the first evidence that debunks the insinuations. However, with his prolonged hospitalisation, there is a risk that the spread of fake news may widen.”
TikTokers Ottavo and Er Bombolino in a joint Instagram video defended themselves against the accusations, saying: “We are not conspiracy theorists. We are devoted to Pope Francis. We are only seeking the truth. Where is Pope Francis?”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...pe-francis
Italian TikToker Ottavo made his way unchallenged into a ward at Gemelli hospital in Rome, followed by a camera. His aim was to bolster a conspiracy theory circulating on social media for weeks: that the 88-year-old pontiff was dead “and the Vatican refuses to tell us”.
“There’s no security at all – nothing whatsoever,” he told his 10,000 followers in the video. “I would never have been able to get this far if he were there. For that reason, in my opinion, Pope Francis passed away.”
But Ottavo had overlooked one detail: the ward he infiltrated was not the one where Francis was being treated.
Before Ottavo, another TikToker nicknamed Er Bombolino had attempted to enter the hospital a few days earlier to prove that Francis was dead. He, too, ended up in the wrong ward.
Media reports in Italy have suggested one of the objectives of the pope’s audio was a response by the Vatican to fake news about the pontiff’s death.
Avvenire, a national daily newspaper affiliated with the Catholic church, wrote: “The pope’s audio message broadcast last night is the first evidence that debunks the insinuations. However, with his prolonged hospitalisation, there is a risk that the spread of fake news may widen.”
TikTokers Ottavo and Er Bombolino in a joint Instagram video defended themselves against the accusations, saying: “We are not conspiracy theorists. We are devoted to Pope Francis. We are only seeking the truth. Where is Pope Francis?”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...pe-francis
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
