Fact-check: Did the Pope baptise and feed dogs with the Holy Communion?
No, the pictures were collected from different locations, one of which was altered, and the others were blessed for the owners’ happiness and fulfilling the practice of honouring St. Francis of Assisi.
Writer: Jibi Moses
Pictures making rounds on the internet claiming the Pope baptised and fed dogs with the holy communion are false. The images have been digitally altered.
On January 12, 2024, a Facebook page posted four pictures, two of which featured the Pope, while the other two were of other religious leaders. All the pictures had at least a dog or dogs in them.
The post went with a heading: “Dogs were baptised and given Holy communion by the “Holy fathers” Copied.”
The screenshot of the images, as posted by Zion Amarachi
The post attracted 22 reactions, 49 comments, and 22 shares in 48 hours. Another Facebook user who shared the post is seen here.
Did the Pope baptise and feed dogs with the Holy Communion? 211 Check finds out:
Claim Verification:
211 Check investigated each image separately, and these are the results.
Image 1:
On running Reverse Image Search, Yandex brought results with several posts that had previously used the image, with the pope serving a small boy with holy communion instead of a dog.
Tineye, another online tool for reverse image search, had links to similar images.
La Luce Di Maria, a registered newspaper in Rome publishing mainly religious content, published an article in 2019 with the title: Communion under both species: what theology says.
The screenshot of the article that used the original image and credited GettyImages.
However, in the article, we traced its origin to Getty Images. In the Getty Images files, the picture was taken by Andreas Solano on May 6, 2019.
Image 2:
Yandex results show instances where the images were used before. Quest France published an article on October 8, 2023, titled, “IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES. In Honfleur, the priest blesses 300 animals for the happiness of their owners.”
“The famous blessing of the animals, organised by the Notre Dame de l’Estuaire parish this Sunday, October 8, 2023, was once again a success. For this 9th edition, around 250 owners took over the Sainte-Catherine church in Honfleur (Calvados) accompanied by their dogs, and cats… but not only that!” reads the publication which featured several other pictures.
A screenshot of an article that featured the image posted by Quest France
The exact image as used by Quest France
Image 3:
Google Reverse Image Search shows that this image was used before by several publishers at different times, some as early as 2016.
Bing, TinEye, and Yandex searches returned results with the same picture. ABC News, on June 8, 2016, published an article with the heading Pope Meets With Search and Rescue Dogs in St Peter’s Square. Trainers presented Pope Francis with a red T-shirt from the lifeguard school.
Other sources that shared the same picture are seen here, here, and here.
The screen of the image, as used by ABC News on June 8, 2016
Image 4:
Google Image Reverse Search shows that the image was taken in Ecuador during the sixth time that a mass has been celebrated at the Saint-Martin d’Escaudain church to bless the animals. According to the Catholic religion, it takes place as part of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
Lavoix Du Nord published stories, among which the picture was used in one of them. The story had the title Escaudain: Animal friends came to bless their companions on October 17, 2021.
Screenshot of the image in the story posted by LaVaix Du Nord on October 17, 2021
Conclusion:
211 Check has found the claim that the Pope blessed and fed dogs with holy communion to be false. These pictures were collected from different locations, one of which was digitally altered, and the others were when some church leaders blessed animals for the happiness of the owners and partly the practice of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Animals according to the Catholic religion.
A publication under 211 Check’s ‘Fact-check for a pay’ Initiative with Support from the International Fact-checking Network through the BUILD grant.
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