Pope Francis still head of Catholic Church, contrary to claim of resignation | Fact check

The claim: Pope Francis announced he’s resigning, named a successor  

A Feb. 19 Threads post (direct link, archive link) claims there’s been a major shakeup within the Catholic Church. 

“For those Catholics who have not heard the big news, Pope Francis is resigning as of next month and he has chosen Cardinal Luis Tagle as his succesor (sic),” reads the post. “Please pray for Pope Francis who at this very moment could be on his death bed. And also pray for Cardinal Tagle.”

The Threads post was liked more than 300 times a week. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X.  

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Our rating: False

Francis had not announced a resignation as of Feb. 27, and popes are elected by cardinals – not selected by their predecessors.  

Francis has said he'd only resign for 'serious physical impediment'

Francis was admitted to a Rome hospital on Feb. 14 after fighting a respiratory infection for several days. He was later diagnosed with double pneumonia and began oxygen therapy, though the Vatican said he “had not experienced any asthma-like respiratory crises” as of Feb. 26. 

Contrary to the social media posts, Francis had not announced his resignation by that time.

There are no such announcements on the websites for the Holy See press office, which announcesresignations, or the Holy See-operated Vatican News. There are also no reports from legitimate news outlets about Francis resigning. 

Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned in February 2013 – the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years. 

Fact check: Pope’s death confirmed with traditional means, not hammer

Francis wouldn’t choose his successor even if he chose to do the same.  

The College of Cardinals selects new popes, and any potential successor must receive at least two-thirds of the votes to be elected to the papacy. It took five rounds of voting for Francis to reach the necessary number of votes in 2013.

Francis said he would only consider resigning in the event of a “serious physical impediment” in his 2024 autobiography, Reuters reported.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about Francis, including false assertions that he said Catholics should "eat whatever you want" during Lent and that he authorized the World Economic Forum to rewrite the Bible. 

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• Holy See Press Office, accessed Feb. 26, Summary of Bulletin February 2025  
• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, accessed Feb. 26, How Is a New Pope Chosen?  
• Vatican News, accessed Feb. 26, Website search  

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