Image: © depositphotos.com/palinchak
According to a post that is currently making its way around the Interwebs, Pope Francis has shocked his followers during his visit to Ireland by declaring that the Catholic faith is ‘all a load of bollocks’ and that “if someone was in charge of this world they’d have intervened by now”.
But, it should hardly need to be stated that the claims are untrue. Of course, Pope Francis never made the remarks attributed to him in the message.
In fact, the story comes from the satirical website Waterford Whispers News. The site notes in a disclaimer:
Waterford Whispers News is a satirical newspaper and website published by Waterford Whispers News. Waterford Whispers News uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.
And, disclaimer aside, the tongue-in-cheek style of the report clearly indicates that it is satirical and was never intended to be taken seriously.
Nevertheless, submissions indicate that at least a few people have mistakenly concluded that the story is real news.
An example of the post:
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
