Fact check: Image altered to show Pope John Paul II with Benedict and Francis

The claim: Image shows Pope John Paul II with future popes Benedict and Francis

A Jan. 6 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) features a black-and-white image that purports to show Pope John Paul II with his successors.

“A photo of our last three popes, Pope Saint John Paul, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis," reads the post's caption. "They didn’t know it at the time but GOD did.”

The post was shared more than 400 times in three days.

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Our rating: Altered

The photo shown in this post has been edited. The unedited 1985 photo does not include Francis but does show John Paul and Pope Benedict XVI. A Catholic news agency identified the third man in the original photo as Cardinal Edouard Gagnon of Canada.

Photo was taken during Christmas festivities in 1985

The original photo was taken by Associated Press photographer Massimo Sambucetti in 1985 and does not include Francis. It can be found on the outlet’s online photo archive.

"Pope John Paul II shakes hands with West German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican’s chief heresy-fighter, during Christmas greetings in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican City on Friday, Dec. 20, 1985," reads the photo's caption.

The man standing between the successive popes is not identified but does not resemble Francis.

In the Facebook image, Francis' head has been superimposed onto this third man. The doctored image has circulated online for at least a decade.

ACI Prensa, a Spanish-language Catholic news website, identified the man in the middle of the original photo as Cardinal Edouard Gagnon in 2013. The image appears to match other photos of Gagnon.

More: 'The pope is gone': Catholics gather at Vatican City to mourn Pope Benedict's death

Although the viral image is altered, Michele Dillon, a sociology professor and Catholicism expert at the University of New Hampshire, said it would not be unusual for the trio of current and future popes to have been seen together at a ceremonial event or gathering. She said both Benedict and Francis served in important roles for the church while John Paul was the pope.

News reports from the 2001 Synod of Bishops, for example, indicate all three were at the meeting.

Other widely circulating versions of the claim on platforms including Facebook and Twitter have used the unaltered photo but incorrectly said it shows Francis with his predecessors.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the image for comment.

Our fact-check sources:

• Michele Dillon, Jan. 9, Email to USA TODAY

• ACI Prensa, March 14, 2013, Viral photo on social networks does not show the last three Popes

• Associated Press Images, April 27, 2010, Vatican Pope John Paul II Greets Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Image claiming to show three successive popes is altered