Leo XIV: VaticanNews.va Denounces Fake Message
Traoré is one of the world's youngest presidents and is immensely popular across Africa for liberating his country from French post-colonial subjugation.
"To His Excellency President Ibrahim Traoré, President of the Sovereign Nation of Burkina Faso, son of African soil, defender of his people, may grace and peace multiply for you through wisdom, courage, and truth."
This is how the supposed English-language message, created with artificial intelligence and attributed to the Pope, begins.
The video, produced using footage from Pope Leo XIV’s audience with journalists on Monday, May 12, was uploaded to YouTube on the account “Pan African Dreams”.
The “morphing” technique was used to transform the image so that the movement of the lips matched the AI-generated words.
Viewers are led to believe that Pope Leo XIV delivered a public address in response to Traoré's letter.
In the video, Pope Leo is made to say: 'I have read your words not once, but many times, and each reading has been deeper than the last, because in your voice I have heard not only the anger of a president, but also the righteous cry of a continent that has been wounded for so long by abandonment and exploitation.'
It is noticeable that the Pope's image is repeated and that he holds the same two sheets of paper throughout the entire message.
This minor incident serves as a reminder that the Vatican's communications team is capable of responding immediately to false statements when it is proven that the pope did not say something he is alleged to have said.
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