Fabricated image of Pope Francis greeting a purported Church of Satan priest spreads online

An image of what looks like Pope Francis grinning and gripping the hand of someone wearing a pale mask, clad in a red cloak, is circulating on social media with a caption that lacks context. 

"Pope Francis, shaking the hand of the priest of the Church of Satan... ‘God does not reject anyone,’" a March 30 Facebook post said. 

It was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Francis has said "God does not reject anyone," but this isn’t an authentic photo. 

A reverse-image search turned up no credible sources sharing the image. 

As Snopes reported in 2023, Récord, a Mexican sports newspaper, included the image in a roundup of the best images of the pope created by artificial intelligence. 

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We looked for but found no evidence, such as news stories, of a meeting between the pope and the Church of Satan purportedly illustrated in this image. 

The Church of Satan didn’t immediately respond to PolitiFact’s questions about the post, but its website notes that "Satanists are atheists," not Devil-worshippers. Peter Gilmore is the organization’s high priest, and Peggy Nadramia is its high priestess, according to the site.

We rate claims this is an authentic image of the pope and a Church of Satan priest False.