{"id":261998,"date":"2025-03-19T09:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/as-pope-francis-ails-outlandish-rumors-run-wild\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T09:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:09:11","slug":"as-pope-francis-ails-outlandish-rumors-run-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/as-pope-francis-ails-outlandish-rumors-run-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"As Pope Francis Ails, Outlandish Rumors Run Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/19\/multimedia\/19int-pope-francis-1-zctm\/19int-pope-francis-1-zctm-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Pope Francis Ails, Outlandish Rumors Run Wild\" title=\"As Pope Francis Ails, Outlandish Rumors Run Wild\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday night, outside the Rome hospital where Pope Francis is being treated for a complex lung infection, the 8th King of Rome, a self-described \u201ctrash influencer\u201d embarked on a secret mission. He wore a wig, hid his pink-and-blue-dyed beard behind a surgical mask and then ventured inside the hospital to show his followers what he thought was the truth: that the pope was not actually there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The 8th King of Rome, a former funeral home worker whose real name is Simone Basile, is one of many Italians who have flooded social media, telegram channels and WhatsApp chats with unsubstantiated claims that Francis has in fact died and that the papal deep state is hiding the news.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Roman Catholic cardinals have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.avvenire.it\/papa\/pagine\/zuppi-francesco-parla-a-tutti\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">issued calls<\/a> to \u201cfree ourselves from much fake news\u201d on the pope\u2019s health and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/roma.corriere.it\/notizie\/politica\/25_febbraio_21\/ravasi-papa-intervista-d5014c5e-f92b-4b79-b4ad-fab93f5a0xlk.shtml?refresh_ce\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">blamed anti-Francis forces<\/a> for the circulation of false information. Vatican officials said they were privately discussing the reports as the misinformation traveled from the internet to bar counters, locker rooms and the officials\u2019 own smartphones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey say we, the Roman Curia, keep Francis frozen so that we can do our scheming,\u201d said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The chatter seems impervious to the new, more forthcoming communication strategy of the Vatican. The church has broken from its long tradition of secrecy and obfuscation on matters relating to the health of popes by issuing daily, granular updates on Francis\u2019 condition. Some have included graphic detail, such as the pope inhaling on his own vomit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To online skeptics, that has not been enough. It does not seem to matter that the Vatican said that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/europe\/pope-improved-pneumonia-vatican.html\" title=\"\">Francis had improved<\/a>, and posted a photo and an audio recording of his voice. The church\u2019s reputation as a den of intrigue, coupled with an age in which nothing is taken at face value, has let conspiracy theories run wild.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s the first time, Cardinal Ravasi said, that they are saying the raw truth about the pope\u2019s condition.\u201d Still, he added,<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said that even reputable reporters were inquiring about unfounded rumors. One found him in St. Peter\u2019s square, the cardinal said, and asked if he had seen Francis being taken back to his residency to die.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s a toxic atmosphere,\u201d Cardinal Ravasi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Often the talk of machinations involving the Holy Father has come from unorthodox sources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe is really dead,\u201d Fabrizio Corona, an Italian celebrity paparazzo involved with many of the country\u2019s sordid scandals, said onstage outside a shopping mall in Italy\u2019s northern Emilia-Romagna region. He offered no evidence for the claim, and he dismissed the material put out by the Vatican.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe audio is fake,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s done with artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is unclear how many Italians have been taking the spurious claims seriously, but there\u2019s no doubt there are a lot of false reports.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>Cyabra, a social media intelligence company in Tel Aviv that monitors disinformation, said that of a sample of over 3,600 accounts posting about Pope Francis\u2019 health that it looked at, about a third were fake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt becomes worrying and incredibly alarming,\u201d said Rafi Mendelsohn, a spokesman for the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The death of a pope, Mr. Mendelsohn noted, is an emotional topic that can trigger strong reactions. \u201cIt\u2019s really ripe as a topic, if your objective is to create chaos and create distrust and spread confusion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Catholic Church, ideologically divided as it is between Francis\u2019 supporters and his critics on the right, is no stranger to machinations and conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2020, the American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a vocal critic of the pope, repeated a conspiracy theory that Covid vaccines were being used to implant microchips \u201cunder the skin of every person, so that at any moment, he or she can be controlled.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And while social media has offered a megaphone to spread it, rumor has long run rampant inside and outside Vatican walls. A Vatican official said that he had come across a theory that Pope Paul VI, during his pontificate in the 1960s and 70s, had been shut in the basement of the Vatican and replaced by a look-alike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, obscure social media accounts claim that the photo of Francis the Vatican <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/16\/world\/europe\/pope-francis-hospital-photo.html\" title=\"\">shared on Sunday<\/a> was old, or generated by A.I. A former member of the European Parliament <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ladyonorato\/status\/1901625269703651523\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">questioned Francis\u2019 supposed \u201ctan\u201d<\/a> in the photo. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Gemelli hospital, where Francis is being treated, has become a new TikTok destination. Mr. Basile has already gone three times, the videos of his visits gathering millions of views. Another influencer, who goes by Er Bombolino and has a tattoo of Francis\u2019 face on his forearm, also made a trip.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI want to know if the pope is dead or alive!\u201d he said before peering through a hospital window and asking, \u201cIs the pope dead?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nicola Cerbino, a spokesman for the hospital, said that the influencers \u201care going to places that have absolutely nothing to do\u201d with Francis\u2019 ward. The pope\u2019s private apartment, he said, was \u201cimpregnable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the 8th King of Rome was not buying it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI did not find him,\u201d he said as he left the hospital on Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s an unmistakable sign that he is no longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/19\/world\/europe\/pope-francis-disinformation.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday night, outside the Rome hospital where Pope Francis is being treated for a complex lung infection, the 8th King of Rome, a self-described \u201ctrash influencer\u201d embarked on a secret mission. He wore a wig, hid his pink-and-blue-dyed beard behind a surgical mask and then ventured inside the hospital to show his followers what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/19\/multimedia\/19int-pope-francis-1-zctm\/19int-pope-francis-1-zctm-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[201876,164764,163717,18714,201877,13327,164769,165232,7485,163421,3084,776,11084],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261998"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262000,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261998\/revisions\/262000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}