What they are sharing: that Pope Francis declared “eat what you want at Easter”, as “the sacrifice is not in the stomach”. The religious leader reportedly said that there are those who “abstain from eating meat, but don’t talk to their brothers or family” and that “a good barbecue or a meat stew won’t make you a bad person”.
Estadão Verifica checked and concluded that: it’s fake. There are no official statements from Pope Francis indicating relaxation of fasting or permission to consume meat on Good Friday. The alleged speech was not published on the Vatican’s official website or in press outlets. The message is circulating on WhatsApp at a time when Catholics traditionally fast and abstain from eating red meat.
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Know more: A message circulating on WhatsApp publishes an alleged message from Pope Francis criticizing Catholic traditions. The religious man reportedly told people to “eat whatever they want at Easter, the sacrifice is not in the stomach”. He would also have made the consumption of red meat more flexible on Good Friday. However, no such statement was found.
The text claims that Francisco said that “a good barbecue or meat stew will not make you a bad person”. The message also states that the Pope had pointed out a contradiction in practice, as people “abstain from eating meat, but do not speak to family members”. In the comments of a text post on Facebook, people believe the publication and congratulate or criticize the religious man’s speech.
In the collection of the Pope’s messages, available on the official Vatican website, there is no statement like the one mentioned in the post. The “Message of the Holy Father Francisco for Lent 2024″, published on February 1, and the religious leader’s letter for Holy Week, released this Wednesday, 27, have no similarity with the shared content. The religious leader addressed the most recent statement to Catholics in the “Holy Land” and expressed solidarity with the victims of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Similar publications were checked by UOL Confere and international outlets, such as Polígrafo, USA Today, Full Fact and África Check.
Why don’t Catholics eat meat on Good Friday?
Christians believe that the day, also called Good Friday, is one of reflection and penance for the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. On Easter Sunday, his resurrection is celebrated. On this date, Catholics follow the tradition of fasting or abstaining from consuming red meat. To replace food, it is common for people to consume fish, which has a symbolic meaning associated with miracles.
How to deal with posts like this: It is not uncommon for Pope Francis’ speeches to be the target of misinformation on social media, especially those linked to political and ideological issues. O Estadão Verifica has already denied, for example, a dialogue between the religious leader and Jair Bolsonaro about the Amazon that was invented and a rumor that attributed a false statement about gun ownership to the Pope. In the case analyzed, the change in a Catholic tradition would be widely reported in the press and, therefore, it is important to research before believing and sharing.
