Article quoting Pope Francis being shared amongst social media is, unfortunately, a hoax
Facebookers have recently been struck by an article that was published by naijaurban.com, entitled “There is No Hell Fire; Adam & Eve Not Real- Pope Francis Exposes.” The article contains some relatively bold statements, claimed to have been said by Pope Francis.
“The church no longer believes in a literal hell where people suffer,” is one of many statements made. “The Bible is a beautiful holy book, but like all great and ancient works, some passages are outdated.”
It is no surprise that such statements have sparked excitement in readers, especially considering they shake the very foundation that the Catholic Church has based its teachings on. Perhaps the most astonishing statement is in regards to women being ordained as priests: “In accordance with our new understanding, we will begin to ordain women as cardinals, bishops and priests. In the future, it is my hope that we will have a woman pope one day. Let no door be closed to women that is open to men!”
Although it would be great if the Vatican decided to allow the ordination of women into priesthood, the article is a hoax. The most Pope Francis has said about women is that they should have more decision-making power, but the door to women being ordained is still tightly closed.
The origins of these quotes can be found in a WordPress blog called Diversity Chronicle, created by Erik Thorson. Diversity Chronicle is a blog dedicated to posting satirical articles regarding various political, religious, and social issues. Thorson published the article “Pope Francis Condemns Racism and Declares That ‘All Religions Are True’ at Historic Third Vatican Council” on Dec. 5, 2013, inventing false speeches that were claimed to have been said by Pope Francis at the third Vatican Council – a Council that did not actually occur.
“I created this blog for my own personal amusement,” is Thorson’s statement on the Diversity Chronicle’s Disclaimer page.
Examples of other blog posts include titles such as “Abe Foxman of the ADL Announces New Term, Judeophobia, to Replace Anti-Semitism,” “Male Chauvinists Unleash Toilet Seat Reign of Terror Across the U.S.,” and “Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Estate Sues Over New Bible Republishing I Have A Dream Speech.”
Although this is not the first time a convincing hoax has circled social media, it goes to show how easy it is to be fooled on the web. The expanding popularity of blogging has provided a new means for acquiring the latest news; however, it has also opened doors for people to publish pretty much whatever they want. The lesson here is to always check sources – if something seems a little off, look into it. After all, if Pope Francis had actually made such claims, the world’s reaction would have most likely been a lot more noteworthy than the occurrence of a few blog posts.