FACT-CHECK: Pope Francis continues to serve as Pope

Feb 9, 2025 | Church, Fact Checked by PressOnePH

CLAIM: Pope Francis resigned from his position and Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is the new pope. 
 
RATING: FALSE

 

A YouTube video falsely claimed that Pope Francis had resigned and that Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle had replaced him as pope.

The video used a manipulated news interview highlighting the question about the position of Cardinal Tagle in the Vatican. 

The original interview was aired on Dec. 10, 2019, when Cardinal Tagle was appointed by the pope as head of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

According to the Vatican’s official website dedicated to the Pope, Pope Francis delivered his latest speech on Jan. 17 to the community of the Seminary of Córdoba, Spain, and has been actively engaged in several events since the start of the year.

A new pope is elected when the College of Cardinals gather in a conclave and voting through secret ballots, clearly debunking the claim.

The rules of the papal conclave are specified by the papal bull Universi Dominici Gregis published by Pope John Paul II in 1996 and amended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

As of writing, the video has drawn 383,108 views and 2,500 likes on YouTube. Leigh San Diego 


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