VATICAN: On Sunday, Jan. 10, the internet was abuzz with false reports of an overnight blackout at the Vatican, accompanied by a series of claims concerning Pope Francis, the Italian police, and the FBI. The claims were widely shared by conspiracy theorists, generating bewilderment and concern among Catholics around the world.
What happened?
On Jan. 10, a website called the Conservative Beaver published a report headlined “VATICAN BLACKOUT: Pope arrested on 80 count indictment for Child Trafficking, Fraud.” The article was widely shared on Twitter and triggered a spike in Google searches for the term “Vatican blackout.”
What do we know about the Conservative Beaver website?
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Origin
In January 2021, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy and authenticity of a widely-shared online post claiming that Italian police had arrested Pope Francis in the Vatican and charged him with child pornography, human trafficking, incest, fraud, and drug-related offenses.
On Jan. 10, Conservative Beaver, a website with a track record of publishing baseless conspiracy theories, posted an article with the headline: “VATICAN BLACKOUT: Pope Arrested on 80 Count Indictment for Child Trafficking, Fraud.”
The article reported that:
Pope Francis aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio was arrested Saturday in connection with an 80- count indictment of charges including possession of child pornography, human trafficking, incest, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony fraud.