Pope’s account ‘likes’ racy Instagram post; Vatican investigates
The Vatican is investigating how the Pope’s official Instagram account “liked” a photo of a scantily Clad Brazilian model.
A post shared by the model and influencer Natalia Garibotto in early October – featuring the model in revealing, schoolgirl-style lingerie – was liked from the Pope’s official account, @franciscus.
The photo was captioned with a devil horn emoji, along with the suggestive line: “I can teach you a thing or two.”
On Nov. 14, a day after the Catholic News Agency reported on the scandal and asked the Holy See for comment, the like was removed. It is unclear when the Pope’s account liked the photo on the platform.
In the days following media coverage of the fiasco, the Holy See declined to comment.
CNA reported on Tuesday, however, that an investigation is currently ongoing within the Vatican to determine how the “like” took place.
Though a team of staff manage the Pope’s social media presence, a representative from the Holy See told The Guardian they confirmed no employee liked the risqué photo. They also reached out to Instagram “for explanations”.
A representative from Instagram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA Today.
On Twitter, soon after the incident went viral, Garibotto joked: “At least I’m going to heaven.”