Vatican No Longer Believes Jesus is Coming Back-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Reports that the Vatican has announced that the second coming of Jesus may not happen after all have gone viral
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind rumors that the Vatican has urged Christian followers to maintain their faith even though the second coming of Jesus may no longer happen.
The story first appeared online at Waterford Whispers News, a satirical website, in April 2014. The story, which appeared under the headline, “Jesus Not Coming Back By the Looks of it, Admits Vatican,” has been shared on social media more than 225,000 times. The story begins:
A SPOKESPERSON for the Vatican has officially announced today that the second coming of Jesus, the only son of the God, may not happen now after all, but urged followers to still continue with their faith, regardless of the news.
Cardinal Giorgio Salvadore told WWN that this years 1,981st anniversary is to be the Vatican’s last in regards to waiting for the Lord to return to Earth.
“We just feel Jesus is not coming back by the looks of it.” he said. “It’s been ages like. He’s probably flat out doing other really good things for people somewhere else.”
Waterford Whispers News clearly identifies itself as “a satirical newspaper and comedy website” — not a credible source of news.
However, a similar story resurfaced in July 2016 when the website Real Time News re-reported the story under the headline, “’Jesus Is Not Coming Back, He Was Drunk When He Said So’ – Roman Catholic Leaders Say.”
Real Time News doesn’t clearly identify itself as a fake news or entertainment website, but the story is still a fake one.
Reverend Joseph Osei-Bonsu, the president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, has even directly addressed claims that Christian believers should no longer expect Jesus to return to Earth:
The Most Rev Osei-Bonsu, who is also the Bishop of the Konongo-Mampong Diocese, said no one knew the time of Christ’s return, as was written in Mark 13:32, “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
He explained that ‘that day’ clearly referred to the Parousia, the return of Christ at the end of time, and stated that if neither the Son (Jesus) nor the angels knew the time of the second coming, how would any Cardinal, or any person for that matter, know?
On claims in the publication that Jesus was drunk at the time He made the prediction, the Most Rev Osei-Bonsu said there was no evidence in the Bible, or anywhere else, that Christ was “drunk” when he made that statement.
“The publication is just malicious and blasphemous and I would urge all Catholics and, indeed, all Christians, to ignore it and treat it with the contempt that it deserves,” he said.
Given that this story came from fake news websites and a Catholic Bishop directly refuted its claims, we’re calling this one fiction.