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Following the death of His Holiness Pope Francis, the entire world, was eagerly awaiting the election of a new pope. Fulfilling the hope of Catholics all around the world, a new Pope was elected from the United States for the first time. This is a fact check we conducted regarding a false post that was circulated regarding that.
Social Media Posts :
A post was shared on social media stating, “The Vatican has succumbed to Trump’s influence, the Cardinal says with pain. Unfortunately, we do not have such a powerful leader” indicating that it was a statement made by the Archbishop of Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.
It was circulated through Facebook several times.
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We decided to do a fact check regarding this, based on the requests we got from our readers.
Fact Check :
The selection of the new Pope, which took place after the funeral of His Holiness, Pope Francis, took place on the afternoon of May 8th, according to the Vatican time, following a two-day election.
The new pope was appointed as Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States and has been named as XIV Pope Leo.
We checked through the mainstream media as well as international media reports to see if Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had made a statement regarding this appointment, but we were unable to find any such statement.
Likewise, it is still not reported that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who left for Italy on the morning of last 23rd, to attend the funeral of His Holiness Pope Francis, and the conclave to elect the new pope, returned Sri Lanka.
To confirm this, we contacted the Director of Public Relations of the Archdiocese of Colombo, Father Jude Krishantha Fernando, and the Media Spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Colombo, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando. They stated that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith did not make any statement that Vatican was subjected to Trump’s influence.
They further stated that during the papal conclave, the cardinals were inside the Sistine Chapel and outsiders are not allowed to enter, and that cardinals are not allowed to take their phones inside. They confirmed that Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith has not had the opportunity to issue any statement to the media, and that he has not yet visited Sri Lanka.
They confirmed that the circulating social media posts are false.
Of the 252 cardinals worldwide, 137 were eligible to hold the papal office and vote. (The remaining cardinals, who are over the age of 80, cannot vote.) Sri Lanka’s Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, who is 77 years old, was also qualified to be elected to this post.
Similarly, his name was included in international media reports, reporting the assumed cardinal who would be elected as the new Pope. Catholics, as well as every Sri Lankan, were eagerly awaiting the election of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith as the new Pope.
11 days after the death of His Holiness Pope Fransis, the US President Donals Trump posted an AI generated photo of himself in the papal vestments on his official Truth Social account. This picture shows President Donald Trump dressed in white and wearing a papal hat, which is known as the mitre.
https://www.awesomescreenshot.com/image/54388275?key=6a03f93ce8f266d1aedbb23db599727d
It was also posted on the White House’s ‘X’ account..
This photo was criticized by many on social media, as many regarded it as an insensitive and disrespectful photo.
Similarly, earlier, when President Donald Trump was asked by reporters at the White House, who he would like to see elected as the new Pope, after His Holiness Pope Francis, he has sarcastically said that “I would like to be the Pope. That would be my number one choice”.
Trump has further stated that he didn’t really have a preference for this, but that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, was the right person for this. You can refer to that instance here.
However, the new Pope XIV Leo, the first pope elected from the United States, will lead the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. Social media users are commenting that Trump’s posts and statements regarding the papacy have a connection to the election of a new pope and maybe because of that such false posts have been created linking Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith to that incident.
Conclusion :
Our investigation shows that the circulated social media posts are false and that he has not made such a statement to the media as confirmed by the fathers of Archdioceses.
Title:A statement from Father Malcolm Ranjith that the Vatican has succumbed to Trump’s influence?
Fact Check By: Factcrescendo TeamResult: False
