While Pope Francis was being treated for double pneumonia, Italian TikToker Ottavo made his way unchallenged into a ward at Gemelli hospital in Rome, followed by a camera. His aim was to bolster a conspiracy theory circulating on social media for weeks: that the 88-year-old pontiff was dead “and the Vatican refuses to tell us”.
“There’s no security at all – nothing whatsoever,” he told his 10,000 followers in the video. “I would never have been able to get this far if he were there. For that reason, in my opinion, Pope Francis passed away.”
But Ottavo had overlooked one detail: the ward he infiltrated was not the one where Francis was being treated.
Since the pontiff was hospitalised last month, the Vatican has been waging a quiet battle against the fake news, conspiracy theorists and AI-generated images circulating on social networks concerning his health – producing regular updates on his health and a voice message from his hospital bed.
Before Ottavo, another TikToker nicknamed Er Bombolino had attempted to enter the hospital a few days earlier to prove that Francis was dead. He, too, ended up in the wrong ward.
The pontiff has been treated at Gemelli hospital since 14 February . On 22 February, he suffered a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” and on 28 February had “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” – a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs
Doctors on Monday said Francis was no longer in immediate danger and responding well to treatment in hospital, but fake news about his state of health continues to proliferate online.
Some social media accounts have falsely announced his death four times since he arrived in hospital and thousands of fake photos have begun circulating on the web featuring Francis apparently in distress and dressed in a white cassock on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on his face.
Last Thursday, for the first time since he had been admitted to the hospital, the pope recorded and released an audio message thanking those who had been praying for his recovery, his voice breathless as he neared three weeks in hospital with pneumonia.
Speaking in his native Spanish, Francis said in a message broadcast in St Peter’s Square: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square, I accompany you from here.” .
Media reports in Italy have suggested one of the objectives of the pope’s audio was a response by the Vatican to fake news about the pontiff’s death.
Avvenire, a national daily newspaper affiliated with the Catholic church, wrote: “The pope’s audio message broadcast last night is the first evidence that debunks the insinuations. However, with his prolonged hospitalisation, there is a risk that the spread of fake news may widen.”
The director of the Holy See Press Office told the Guardian on Tuesday: “Fake news speaks for itself. We deliver our news with regularity and transparency.
“We said that with that audio the pope wanted to thank the faithful for their prayers in these weeks. If one of the goals of that audio was also to dismiss the fake news about his health, well – everyone is free to draw their own conclusions.”
Police are also reportedly gathering information on disinformation and considering potential charges, though the interior ministry told the Guardian “that no official investigation is under way at present”.
TikTokers Ottavo and Er Bombolino in a joint Instagram video defended themselves against the accusations, saying: “We are not conspiracy theorists. We are devoted to Pope Francis. We are only seeking the truth. Where is Pope Francis?”
The Vatican had previously noted that the decision not to appear in video was made by Pope Francis himself. “Everyone is free to choose how and when to be seen,” the Vatican’s press office said.
