It all started with a text chain. A member of my parish’s men’s Rosary group forwarded on a speech, supposedly by Pope Leo, which included the line, “I, too, was angry with God…there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo…”
Something about it seemed a bit off. It didn’t read like something a Catholic cleric would say. It seemed a little too slick, edgy, and canned. So we started digging. The factchecking site Pressone was already on it, in addition to Snopes. Here are some other statements those sites have already debunked as fake:
- Pope Leo stated, “You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings.”
- Pope Leo told Vice President Vance, “You’ve turned religion into a factory for manufacturing votes.”
- Pope Leo played jazz trombone under an assumed name.
These fake statements aren’t the end of it, however. Earlier this month, a new YouTube channel popped up, @leoxivsermons, which was full of deepfaked statements, often with accompanying video generated by AI tools. The channel gained more than 17,500 followers and one million views before YouTube took it down. But the damage had been done, as copies of those fake sermons and speeches proliferated across the Internet. The BBC and Vatican News have already reported on the problem.
So, what does this mean for parish communicators? No matter who is behind these faked statements, the path forward is clear. Here are five things you can do to make sure that the clear voice of our Holy Father is heard:
- Stick with trusted sources: Whether you’re reading Pope Leo’s speeches on the Vatican website, skimming reports from Catholic News Agency, or reading about them secondhand from the USCCB, make sure you are relying on trusted outlets for news on the Holy Father.
- Avoid meme-sharing groups for now: Generally, these groups have always been full of questionable content, but even more so now. Take a break and put those groups on mute.
- Wait a minute: You may see something GREAT online, attributed to the pope, and immediately want to put it in a parish newsletter or click the “share” button. Do yourself a favor – walk away for a moment and think about it. Then do a little research, and, if you can’t find the origin point of the quote or video, move on with your day.
- Gently correct errors: You’re likely getting all kind of things forwarded to you by parishioners or well-meaning Catholics. If you receive something that’s clearly fake, point it out in charity.
- Stay the course: As Jesus said in Matthew 24, “Many will come in my name…and they will deceive many.” That’s not a cause for despair, but for rejoicing – because we also know that “…the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.” Moments like this may lead us to doubt ourselves, but we can trust that the Lord has truly called us all to “preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mk 16:15). We can be sure that the Way, the Truth, and the Life will win out in the end!
Also, as part of our commitment to the more than 1,800 parishes and 30+ dioceses that use our Catholic Social Media tool daily, a few notes about what our team is doing right now:
- Our writers: Since 2018, we’ve hired folks with a track record of integrity, advanced academic training in theology, and a love for the Church. That’s not going to change anytime soon.
- Our content: Everything that originates from Catholic Social Media is rigorously fact-checked and goes through four different editors before we place it in front of our users. (That’s been true for years!)
- Our customer support: We’re monitoring these deepfakes, and if you ever need a third party to examine something you’ve found online, just send it our way and we’d be happy to give you our thoughts. Just hit up the support chat if you’re a CSM user or email us at support@prengersolutions.com.
In some ways, this should be an encouraging moment for all of us who use the Internet to proclaim the love of Jesus for the world. When the bad content is so obvious, it really lights a fire in the belly to be “…wise as serpents and innocent as doves” ourselves (Mt 10:16).
-Deacon John, Nic, Mitch, Angie, Rob and the Catholic Social Media team
