No, pope didn't authorize World Economic Forum to write 'fact checked' Bible | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
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The claim: Pope Francis authorized World Economic Forum to rewrite Bible

A Dec. 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a news article about the World Economic Forum and the head of the Catholic Church.

"Pope Francis Authorizes WEF to Rewrite 'Fact Checked' Holy Bible," reads the article's headline.

The screenshot also includes a picture of a post seemingly made by the pope on X, formerly Twitter, that reads, "Misinformation in The Holy Bible must be fact checked and erased."

The Facebook post was shared more than 160 times in two days.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Our rating: False

There are no credible reports that the pope "authorized" the World Economic Forum to rewrite the Bible, as the post claims. A spokesperson said the World Economic Forum isn't involved in such an initiative. The claim originated on a website known to spread misinformation.

No Bible rewrite project at WEF

There are no credible news reports that Pope Francis, the 87-year-old leader of the Catholic Church, has released any statements about WEF rewriting the Bible.

Yann Zopf, a spokesperson for the World Economic Forum, said the organization is not involved in such an initiative.

"I can confirm that these claims are fake," Zopf said in an email.

The screenshot in the Facebook post is from a Dec. 24 story by The People's Voice, a website that routinely publishes misinformation. It uses an unnamed "WEF insider" to claim that the pope wants a "new 'fact-checked' version of the Bible to be far more political, with a central place for the primacy of nature, and far less about God."

But no verifiable evidence is presented to substantiate the claim. And neither the website for the World Economic Forum nor the Holy See – the government of the Roman Catholic Church – makes any mention of the World Economic Forum being granted authorization to rewrite or revise the Bible.

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Further, there is no evidence that Pope Francis made an X post saying misinformation in the Bible needs to be fact checked and erased. The post wasn't found in a search of the pope's X account, and there are no credible reports that he made such a post.

While the picture of the purported X post has similarities to the pope's actual X account – including his username and profile picture – it doesn't include a timestamp or virality data associated with authentic posts on the social media platform.

The picture of the X post also has a blue checkmark next to the pope's username. His actual X account carries a gray checkmark, which signifies the account is a verified government or multilateral organization or official.

USA TODAY has debunked numerous false claims involving the World Economic Forum, including that the organization called for an AI-written Bible and that it announced a "new one world religion."

USA TODAY also has debunked multiple false claims published by The People's Voice, formerly known as News Punch.

The Facebook user who made the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Holy See Press Office and The People's Voice also did not respond to requests for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Pope Francis authorized WEF to rewrite Bible | Fact check