This photo was doctored to show the Pope and the model together
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on January 6, 2020 at 06:19
- Updated on January 7, 2020 at 09:24
- 2 min read
- By AFP Philippines
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The image has been shared dozens of times since it was published here on Facebook on January 2, 2020. Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
The caption states: “By looking at it, the Pope is a human being after all.”
The image was also shared here on Facebook, here on Twitter and here on Imgur.
The claim is false; the image has been doctored and combines two separate photographs from the Pope's tour of South America in 2015.
The original photo of the Pope was published by the Associated Press (AP) here and was taken during the pontiff’s meeting with then Bolivian President Evo Morales in July 2015.
Below is a screenshot of the AP photo:
The photo’s caption states in part: “In this Wednesday, July 8, 2015 photo, Bolivian President Evo Morales presents Pope Francis with a crucifix carved into a wooden hammer and sickle, in La Paz, Bolivia”
Below is a screenshot comparison showing the doctored image (L) and the AP photo (R):
The original photo of Victoria Xipolitakis, who is an Argentinian model, was taken at a papal event in Paraguay and was published by Australian news website News.com.au on July 16, 2015. Xipolitakis was escorted out of the audience because of her attire, according to the report.
“A BUSTY model caused a furore after standing in the front row of a crowd without a bra during the Pope’s visit to Latin America," the article reads.
The report adds that the "incident took place in the city of Asuncion, during Pope Francis’ visit to Paraguay, and when guards noticed what she was wearing they told her to leave.”
Below is a screenshot of the News.com.au report:
Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image (L) and the photo used in the News.com.au report (R):
Xipolitakis removal from the event was also reported in other media outlets, including the UK tabloid website MailOnline and UK tabloid newspaper Daily Star.
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