Pope Francis Says Koran and Holy Bible Are the Same-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Reports have gone viral that Pope Francis told his followers that the Koran and the Holy Bible are the same.
The Truth:
A fake news website started this hoax.
The website, National Report, published a story that claimed Pope Francis told guests at the Vatican that the spiritual teachings of the Koran were “just as valid” as those in the Holy Bible. The article falsely quoted Pope Francis as saying:
“Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each others beliefs, for we are all children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God.”
The story was quickly shared on social media sites more than 20,000 times. Taken out of context, many were duped into believing that it was an actual quote from Pope Francis. One reader commented:
Shocking news, to say the least. What will this liberal pope do next? I’m glad to be born again into the Christian religion, as opposed to the islamic arabiacs and cathylicks.
But National Report’s disclaimer explains that it ‘s a “news a political satire web publication” that uses real names in “semi-real or mostly fictitious ways.”
Pope Francis has been a popular target of fake news websites. TruthorFiction.com has previously investigated false reports that the Pope added an 11th Commandment and asked J.K. Rowling to rewrite the bible. Both of those rumors were started by fake news websites, too.