Pope Francis is not planning to replace the bible with a new one (AFP / Angelo Carconi)

No, Pope Francis has not “cancelled” the bible

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 29, 2020 at 18:09
Updated on July 29, 2020 at 18:35
1 min read
By Amanuel NEGUEDE, AFP Ethiopia

A 2018 Facebook post claiming that Pope Francis has decided to replace the bible with a new one has resurfaced in Africa. The claim is false: the story originated on a satirical website and AFP Fact Check found no trace of such a statement from the Vatican.

“Pope Francis has cancelled the Holy Bible and recommended an alternative book. Pope Francis today amazed the world by declaring that the bible is outdated and in need of great change,” the post reads in Swahili.

The post, archived here, has been shared more than 800 times and prompted users to leave more than 2,500 comments.

The misleading publication further claims the name “Biblia 2000” will replace the title of the bible.

Screenshot of misleading claim on Facebook, taken on July 24, 2020

However, the claim was entirely fabricated -- the story originated on a satirical website and AFP Fact Check has found no trace of the Vatican releasing any such statement.

We ran a Google search with keywords from the story and found it had been originally published on satirical website There Is News (TIN) in April 2018.

The website’s clearly visible tagline is “Not Real, But So Funny”.

Screenshot of satirical website tagline, taken on July 29, 2020

The site also features a disclaimer stating “the content of TIN is fiction and does not correspond to reality. All references, names, brands or institutions that appear on the site are used as contextual elements, as in any novel or fiction account.”

According to CrowdTangle, a tool that measures social media engagements, the hoax has racked up quite a lot of traffic with more than 15,800 interactions on Facebook.

Screenshot of data provided by crowdtangle, taken on July 24, 2020

While some users posted the story as a joke, many others have fallen for the hoax and shared it as real news.

Screenshot of misleading Facebook posts, taken July 24, 2020

AFP Fact Check has contacted the Vatican for comment and will update this fact check accordingly.

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