Church is always behind
Catholic leadership faces a rising tide of AI-generated misinformation and deepfake videos used to deceive followers and facilitate financial scams
- Incident date
- Jan 2024
- Target
- Pope Francis
In recent years, the Catholic Church has encountered a surge in sophisticated AI-generated content, ranging from fabricated confrontations involving bishops to impersonations of religious leaders. These deepfakes are increasingly used to manipulate public perception and execute financial scams targeting sympathetic followers, prompting leaders like Pope Francis to call for urgent global regulation and vigilance regarding the risks of artificial intelligence.
What happened
Social media platforms have been flooded with counterfeit cinematic content featuring simulated religious figures. One prominent example involved a viral video depicting a silver-haired bishop confronting immigration agents on the steps of a church. Despite the dramatic nature of the footage, the event was entirely fabricated. The same script has appeared in multiple videos featuring different simulated shepherds, confirming the use of AI to generate deceptive narratives.
The threat extends beyond viral misinformation to direct identity theft. Father Rafael Capó, a priest and social media influencer, reported that impersonators have stolen his images and role to create false profiles. These actors contact followers under the guise of the priest to make fraudulent monetary appeals. While Father Capó successfully mitigated some of these risks through profile verification, he noted that the rise of AI-generated video represents a significant escalation in the difficulty of protecting online identities.
Church leadership has responded to these challenges with both policy and public warnings. Pope Francis acknowledged being the victim of a deepfake photo and has repeatedly spoken out against the perverse dangers of AI since 2023. In May 2026, he issued an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas, which urged the disarming of AI to protect human dignity. Institutions such as St. Thomas University have responded by adopting internal standards for ethical AI, while technology firms serving dioceses emphasize that the faithful must rely exclusively on official, well-known communication channels to avoid falling victim to these evolving digital threats.