Fact Check: Video of Pope Francis watching live circus in Vatican City makes a MISLEADING claim
A video of Pope Francis watching a live circus performance in the Vatican City is in circulation with the claim that the Vatican has fallen
Claim :
Pope has started a new tradition of circus in the Vatican CityFact :
The tradition of Circus performance was started decades ago in the Vatican City
A video of Pope Francis watching a live circus performance in the Vatican City is in circulation with the claim that the Vatican has fallen, with the implication that Vatican City has started a new tradition of watching the circus. The video shows performers in bright clothes dancing and performing acts as the Pope watches them.
A user shared the video with the caption “Christianity has fallen…..this is inappropriate dancing in the Vatican and it should be unacceptable behavior to a Pope. Although I am a lapsed Catholic I still care about the Church…..the sooner this Pope is replaced the better….you can tell a lot from a face….this Pope doesn’t have a kind face.”
Several social media users shared this video with the caption “The Vatican has fallen”.
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The viral video is an old one from the year 2020. The practice of performing circus in the Vatican is not a new one started by Pope Francis. The tradition of inviting a circus to perform for the general audience is a yearly tradition that was started decades ago by Pope St. Paul VI.
When we searched using keywords like “Circus in the Vatican City”, we found several results showing circus performances in Vatican City as old as 2012.
Here is the link to the video of the circus performance at the Vatican under the supervision of Pope Benedict XVI.
According to a report, “Aqua Circus” performers put on a show for the Pope and pilgrims. Pope Francis participated in the spectacle by tossing a hoop at one of the acrobats. This circus presents itself as “the European response to 'Cirque du Soleil.'” Its show proposes defending the environment. The artists tell the story of a mermaid and a man under the sea who fight against the contamination of the ocean.
The viral video is from the year 2020, which was published on a YouTube channel named Rome Reports. Rome Reports is an international news agency, specializing in the activity of the Pope and the Vatican, which covers current debates on social, cultural, and religious issues.
A video of a circus performance by Rony Roller Circus can be seen on the same YouTube channel published in January 2022.
According to Pillarcatholic.com, the Vatican sees welcoming circus troupes as part of a ministry. In 1970, Pope St. Paul VI established a new Vatican office, the Pontifical Commission on the Spiritual Care of Migrants and Itinerants.
Overseen by the Congregation for Bishops, the office was entrusted with overseeing and encouraging the Church’s pastoral ministry to refugees, nomads, sailors and pilots, and to exiles. Perhaps surprisingly, the pope’s mandate creating the office also specifically mentioned traveling circus people.
Hence, the viral video is from 2020. The tradition of the Vatican encouraging circus troupes was started by Pope Paul VI. The claim is Misleading.
