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The internet was served with yet another reminder to not believe everything they see online. A photo of Pope Francis wearing a puffer coat has been confirmed to be fake.

As reported by The Washington Post, the current head of the Catholic church turned heads last week and it wasn’t because of anything related to religion. On Friday, March 24 an image surfaced on the internet of Pope Francis strutting in a very fashionable chunky full-length white puffer coat. The outerwear piece in question also featured a belt at the midsection, extended cuffs, and a detachable hood.

Naturally, the photo of the holy man big stepping with all the streetwear feels was a sight to be seen and quickly went viral on online. So much so a heavy debate quickly ensued on Twitter on whether the photograph was real or not. Soon after a 31-year-old construction worker finally took claim of doctoring the flick after ingesting mushrooms that produce hallucinations.
Pablo Xavier of Chicago gave a statement to Buzzfeed News on how the viral photograph came to be.
“I’m trying to figure out ways to make something funny because that’s what I usually try to do,” he said. “I try to do funny stuff or trippy art — psychedelic stuff. It just dawned on me: I should do the Pope. Then it was just coming like water: ‘The Pope in Balenciaga puffy coat, Moncler, walking the streets of Rome, Paris,’ stuff like that.”
While the pontiff has yet to address the forgery directly he did speak to the dangers of A.I. during a conference at The Vatican on Monday, March 27.
“I would therefore encourage you, in your deliberations, to make the intrinsic dignity of every man and woman the key criterion in evaluating emerging technologies,” said Francis. “These will prove ethically sound to the extent that they help respect that dignity and increase its expression at every level of human life.”

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Photo: Getty