Fake Message to President of Burkina Faso Attributed to Pope
- A 36-minute AI-generated deep fake video falsely showing Pope Leo XIV addressing Burkina Faso's President Ibrahim Traoré appeared on YouTube on May 2025.
- The video uses footage from Pope Leo XIV's May 12 audience with journalists, with morphing to sync lip movements to an AI voice praising Traoré.
- The message includes a fabricated salutation and quote attributed to Pope Leo XIV that praises Traoré as a defender of his people and son of African soil.
- On May 21, Vatican News issued a caution advising people to confirm any papal-related content through official channels, responding to the quick circulation of misleading information generated by artificial intelligence.
- This incident highlights ongoing challenges posed by deep fakes and misinformation targeting public figures and stresses reliance on official Vatican sources.
11 Articles
11 Articles

Vatican warns about fake pope quotes, videos
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — All the speeches and messages Pope Leo XIV has given since becoming pope May 8 are available on the Vatican website, which should be checked before sharing supposed quotes and videos, Vatican News said. The Vatican News site published the warning in several languages May 21 after a 36-minute “deep fake” — AI-generated — video was posted on YouTube. The post, which used manipulated video of Pope Leo and an AI-generated voice …
Fake message to Burkina Faso president adds to growing wave of Pope Leo AI deepfakes
A YouTube video falsely portraying Pope Leo XIV delivering a message to Burkina Faso’s president has added to a growing trend of AI-generated deepfakes targeting the… The post Fake message to Burkina Faso president adds to growing wave of Pope Leo AI deepfakes appeared first on CatholicVote org.
Vatican issues warning after fake AI video of Pope Leo XIV posted on YouTube - The Catholic Leader
THE Vatican News site has published a warning in multiple languages that a 36-minute AI-generated deepfake video was posted on YouTube and shared around the world. The post, which used manipulated video of Pope Leo and an AI-generated voice with an accent that is not Pope Leo’s, praises Ibrahim Traoré, the military ruler of Burkina […] The post Vatican issues warning after fake AI video of Pope Leo XIV posted on YouTube appeared first on The Cat…
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