But let’s not forget the Vatican’s year 2000 fiction story for stupid children that was the supposed Third Secret of Fatima – a piece of fake news that prompted faithful Catholics worldwide, including Mother Angelica at the time, to cry foul.
Another example is the 2018 Papal Photoshop scandal, which involved a letter from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and implicated the Vatican Communications Office itself (see screenshot below). In that case, the Vatican was caught red handed using fake news — they themselves had created! — to convince the world that Benedict was in lockstep with Francis.
They doctored up a photo of a letter penned by Benedict, and then sent the same guy out to sell the fake news — Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro “officially” interpreted the letter as Benedict’s “indictment of conservatives” who have been critical of Francis: “This is a very elegant but clear way of Benedict distancing himself from those who exploit him in their battle against Francis,” Spadaro told the AP. “Benedict is saying ‘I won’t allow you to do this in my name.’”
Turns out, that was fake news, and the Vatican eventually admitted that it was.
And now the usual suspects are at it again, this time with Leo, which is not to suggest that Leo is a traditionalist. What it does suggest is that our Holy Father is not the radical nutter the “progressives” inside the Vatican want him to be. So? Roll out the fake news again!
Pray for Pope Leo and check out “Fake interview with the Pope causes a stir in Italy. Why is it so important?” by Gaetano Masciullo, a Remnant Correspondent from Italy.
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