Did Pope Leo XIV release a statement in which he said "Be woke"? No, that's not true: There is no trace of such a statement on the website of the Vatican and no news sources indexed by Google News have reported on it. Had such a statement been made it would have been major news. Lead Stories reached out to the Holy See Press Office for comment.
An image making that claim appeared in several places, for example in a post on X (archived here) published on May 10, 2025 along with a comment that read:
Oh, yes, yes, yes; let's GO:
To be called "woke" in a world that sleeps through suffering is no insult- it is Gospel."
Pope Leo🔥🔥🔥
This is the image in question:
The text in the image read:
To all who sent prayers, love, and hope as I begin this sacred journey -- thank you.
I accept this role not as a throne, but as a vow:
To serve the forgotten,
To uplift the broken,
To speak plainly where others stay silent.
To be called "woke" in a world that sleeps through suffering is no insult -- it is Gospel.
Woke means awakened by compassion.
Guided by truth.
Humbled by grace.
Committed to justice - not just for some, but for all.
So let them mock.
Let them sneer.
We will still build the Kingdom - not with walls, but with love.
Be awake. Be loving. Be woke.
-- Pope Leo XIV
In the bottom left of the image there was the watermark of meme generator imgflip.com, indicating this image was not an official release from the Vatican.
A Google News search for stories mentioning both the phrases "Be awake. Be loving. Be woke." and "Leo XIV" yielded no results (archived here).
A search of the Vatican's own news website for the phrase "Be woke" in recent stories also did not return anything (archived here).
The phrase also wasn't present on Leo XIV's old X account (archived here).
Lead Stories reached out to the Holy See Press Office by email for comment and we will update this story when a reply is received.
