Fact Check: Don't fall for photos of Pope Leo XIV tumbling down stairs
Claim:
In June 2025, a series of photographs authentically showed Pope Leo XIV falling down stairs.
Rating:
In 2025, a set of photographs allegedly depicting Pope Leo XIV falling down stairs circulated online.
For example, one Facebook post (archived) by the account Daily Bible Verse shared three images, one of the pope waving to the crowd as he walked down stairs and two of him falling down stairs:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1047206560859417&set=a.580604907519587
The same photos appeared several times on Facebook (archived) and Threads (archived).
However, the story was fictional. A Google search (archived) and a Google News search (archived) revealed no reputable news outlet reported this incident.
Of the three images, one showing the pope waving was most likely authentic. The photo started circulating online on May 21, 2025, after the pope's first weekly general audience. Similar photos from that event appeared on the same day in the same setting from reputable news agencies such as Getty Images, NurPhoto and The Associated Press, and artificial intelligence detectors indicated it was not AI-generated.
But there were visual clues that the two smaller images showing the pope falling were unlikely to be real. For example, Leo's face in them was blurry and elongated. His position as he fell also appeared to change from image to image — falling backward in the first image and then falling forward in the second — in a way that seemed physically implausible.
Snopes ran the images through two different artificial intelligence image detectors, Decopy and Undetectable, both of which determined the images of the pope falling were AI-generated.
The pinned comment on the Daily Bible Verse post linked to a website with an article that appeared to have little to do with the photographs. It read:
According to multiple eyewitnesses, a piece of ceremonial technology—possibly a small microphone transmitter or liturgical device—detached unexpectedly from Pope Leo's vestment and fell near the altar. The moment was brief, almost imperceptible to many in the crowd, but cameras caught it. Within minutes, social media platforms exploded with theories, commentary, and metaphor-laden interpretations.
Snopes ran the text of the article through two AI text detectors, Quillbot and GPTZero, both of which concluded it was AI-generated — a clue that the website in question was a junk content farm filled with so-called "AI slop."
Snopes often fact-checks fake and altered images of well-known people; see, for example, our story on an edited image of tech billionaire Elon Musk's chest and a fact check debunking an image of United Healthcare CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione wearing a "Sailor Moon" costume.
Ibrahim, Nur. "Fake Photo Shows Luigi Mangione in 'Sailor Moon' Costume." Snopes, Snopes.com, 16 Dec. 2024, www.snopes.com/fact-check/luigi-mangione-sailor-moon-costume/. Accessed 10 June 2025.
Liles, Jordan. "Photo of Elon Musk Altered to Increase His Chest and Stomach Size." Snopes, Snopes.com, 11 Nov. 2024, www.snopes.com/fact-check/elon-musk-photo-chest-stomach/. Accessed 10 June 2025.
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