| USA TODAY
Pope prays for US, calls for peace in the midst of the Capitol riot
Pope Francis said Sunday that he prays for those who died in the U.S. Capitol riot and called for calm to help protect American democratic values. (January 10)
AP
The claim: Pope Francis arrested after disappearance in Vatican
Rumors that Pope Francis has been arrested after a blackout in Vatican City began spreading across the internet on January 10.
The allegation first appeared on Conservative Beaver, a website that describes itself as ‘news stories of interest to Proud Canadians’.
The story – published under the headline “VATICAN BLACKOUT: Pope arrested on 80 counts of child trafficking, fraud” – claims the arrest was ordered by the Italian national prosecutor.
It also states that the FBI is ‘making arrangements to fly in and interrogate him’, and that the pope’s arrest will be the ‘first of many’.
Conservative Beaver did not respond to a request from US TODAY for comment.
The allegation could be linked to QAnon, a conspiracy theory based on unsubstantiated allegations that President Donald Trump was driving today against a “deep state apparatus” by pedophile political elites, business leaders and celebrities.
More: Fact Testing: Face-painted Capitol-built offender in horns is a well-known supporter of QAnon
Pope Francis works in recent days
Pope Francis was not arrested. No reliable media reported the alleged arrest. And Pope Francis made several statements on January 10 and 11, confirming that he is not in custody.
On January 10, Pope Francis delivers a speech from the Library of the Apostolic Palace. It was broadcast live on YouTube. He was also active on Twitter between 5:01 and 9:30 am EST, the equivalent of 11:01 and 15:30 in the Vatican.
On January 11, the Holy See addressed the Catholic News Agency to the public schedule of meetings held by Pope Francis that day.
According to the Associated Press, the pope has issued an order allowing women to be installed as lecturers, read the Scriptures, and serve on the altar as Eucharistic ministers. He was also active on Twitter at 7:30 am EST, the equivalent of 13:30 in the Vatican.
No eclipse in the Vatican
There was also no eclipse in Vatican City.
Mountain Butorac, a tour guide near St. Peter’s Basilica, wrote to The Catholic Traveler that there was no ‘massive eclipse’ in the Vatican.
A live stream of late night through Vatican News on YouTube appears to be dark on January 10th. But that may be due to low camera exposure, and there were some lights in the recording, according to Butorac and Lead Stories.
“You can see that the lights are burning a lot,” Butorac wrote. “You can see the dome, you can see the lights of the colonnade, you can see office / apartment lights, you can see the Christmas lights, you can see the Christmas tree.”
Colm Flynn, a correspondent for the Eternal Word Television Network who lives near the Vatican, also told the Catholic News Agency that he “did not notice any power outages during the weekend.”
Claims for the arrest stolen from unrelated news reports
The false allegations about Pope Francis follow a pattern of misinformation by conservative Beaver and other sites.
Conservative Beaver has previously made false claims about the arrest of prominent individuals, including philanthropist George Soros and former President Barack Obama. In both cases, the website changed bonafide legal documents about the arrest of other individuals to advance its claims.
Conservative Beaver apparently adapted a news report about the arrest of a man in Alabama on Jan. 7 in his story about the pope.
WHNT News 19 reported on January 7 that Grady Paul Gaston had been arrested “in connection with a charge of 75 counts of possession of child pornography, human trafficking, incest and possession of drug paraphernalia.”
Conservative Beaver reported on January 10 that Pope Francis had been arrested on an almost identical list of charges, although it increased the number to 80 and added ‘crime fraud’.
WHNT News 19 also contains a quote from Madison County, Alabama Sheriff Kevin Turner about the arrest.
“These individuals are truly the worst of the worst in society. I can promise you that we will not stop considering human trafficking until we stop this despicable trade in Madison County as well as surrounding provinces around our state. While I am the Sheriff, “My department will strive to protect our citizens, especially those we need most, our children,” Turner said.
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Conservative Beaver included exactly the same quote, only edited to reflect a different location and attributed to Giuseppe Governale, the chief prosecutor in Italy against the mafia.
The quote reads: ‘These individuals are truly the worst of the worst in society. I can promise you, we will not stop targeting human trafficking until we have stopped this heinous trade in the Vatican and Italy, as well as the surrounding countries in Europe. Although I am a Chief Prosecutor in Italy, my department will strive to protect our citizens, especially those we need most, our children. “
Our rating: false
Based on our research, the claim that Pope Francis was arrested after an eclipse in the Vatican is FALSE. No reliable media reported the alleged arrest, and Pope Francis made several statements on January 10 and January 11, confirming that he was not in custody.
Our sources for fact checking:
- USA TODAY, “What is QAnon?”
- Vatican News – Italiano, January 10, Angelus January 10, 2021 Papa Francesco
- Pope Francis, January 10 Tweet
- Pope Francis, January 10 Tweet
- The Catholic News Agency, January 11, “Why does the internet abound with false allegations of a ‘Vatican eclipse’ ?: A CNA Explainer”
- Holy See Press Office, 11 January, Le Udienze, 11.01.2021
- Holy See Press Office, January 11, Spiritus Domini
- Associated Press, January 11, “Pope says women can read during Mass but still not be priests”
- Pope Francis, January 10 Tweet
- The Catholic Traveler, January 10, Eclipse in the Vatican
- Lead Stories, January 10, “Fact: Pope not arrested on 80s charge of child trafficking and fraud during alleged ‘Vatican disappearance'”
- USA TODAY, NOVEMBER 24, “Fact Check: False allegation that George Soros was arrested for election crimes”
- USA TODAY, December 4, “Fact check: False story alleges former president Barack Obama arrested for espionage”
- USA TODAY, September 17, “Fact-checking: False allegation that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was arrested for child pornography”
- WHNT News 19, January 7, “Man arrested on 75 counts of human trafficking and child pornography”
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