Is an image of what looks like the corpse of a dead Pope Francis seemingly laid out on two pillows, showing various blurry priests in the background, genuine? No, that's not true: The photo was generated using AI, according to an online detection tool. The image included showed a Grok AI watermark, indicating it was created using the AI generative program. At the time of writing, no official statement or coverage had announced the death of Francis passing away, although he remained in hospital.
The photo appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on February 28, 2025, with a caption that read:
"Condolences to the Vatican and the Catholic Community
May the soul of Pope Francis rest in eternal peace.
We remember his tireless advocacy for justice, compassion, and unity. His legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.
Rest in peace, Holy Father.
#RIP #PopeFrancis #EternalRest"
This is what the image looked like on X at the time of this writing:
(Image source: image downloaded from x.com on Fri Feb 28 11:59:20 UTC 2025)
Online AI detection tool Hive Moderation determined that the image was 98.8 percent likely "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content," as shown in the screenshot below:
(Image source: Hive results obtained by Lead Stories on Fri Feb 28 12:03:11 UTC 2025)
In the lower right corner, the image at the source of this fact check had the logo of Grok AI, an AI program developed by Elon Musk's company xAI. This indicates the photo was likely created using that tool:
(Image source: screenshot detail taken by Lead Stories on Fri Feb 28 12:04:00 UTC 2025)
As of this publication, the Vatican had not announced Francis' death on its news release page (archived here).
A Google News search for "Pope Francis" (archived here) conducted on February 28, 2025, did not return results mentioning his passing (but did include several stories about ill health and recent hospitalization).
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Pope Francis can be found here.
