Hoax – 'Pope Comes Out as Gay'
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
Social media driven message, couched as a news report, claims that Pope Benedict XVI resigned his papacy because he is gay and “could no longer live a lie”.
Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he has resigned his papacy because he is gay and “could no longer live a lie.”
What the fact-checkers found
Image: © depositphotos.com/miqu77
The message is a hoax. Pope Benedict XVI made no such announcement. The story originates from a satirical website that publishes purely fictional reports in a news-like format.
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Image: © depositphotos.com/miqu77
Hoax – Pope Benedict XVI Resigned Papacy to Convert to Islam
The claims in the message are nonsense. The message is derived from a story first published in February 2013 on satirical news site “Dead Seriousness”. All of the stories published on the site are entirely fictional.