It would have been a powerful signal to the world: the Pope opening the doors to Vatican City for Syrian refugees. So many people started sharing the news on Facebook when a website published an article saying His Holiness announced the following in a papal decree:
...a quota of Muslims will be allowed access to Vatican gift shop doorways from midnight on Friday on the small condition that they renounce their faith.
Wait, what?
He also reportedly imposed following additional conditons:
Anyone with a good singing voice who can touch their toes
If all that didn't tip you off yet, the article came from News Thump, a British website so good at satire they regularily manage to convince people their fake, made up stories are real. In just a few hours hundreds of people shared the news online, probably helped by the fact that when you share the story it looks pretty convincing:
Pope to open Vatican City to refugees
The Pope is to fulfil his Christian duty by ensuring that the Vatican City takes its fair share of godforsaken Syrian refugees. His holiness described the refugee crisis as a 'modern catastrophe', insisting all European states must do their bit, including little independent ones with stacks of gold and priceless artifacts.
(Except maybe the bit about stacks of gold and priceless artifacts)
Don't let yourself be fooled like all these folks were:
