Catholic Church leaders and technology experts warned on Apr. 8 that artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes are increasingly impersonating popes, bishops, and priests in videos circulating widely on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
The rise of AI-generated content poses challenges for the Church’s credibility and the trust of its followers. Videos depicting dramatic confrontations involving church officials have fooled many viewers, with some even used for scams to solicit money from unsuspecting parishioners.
Father Rafael Capó, vice president for mission and ministry at St. Thomas University in Miami, described his experience with online impersonators who created false profiles using his image. “I have had a presence on social media for a long time — evangelizing, especially to young people,” he said to OSV News. “And because of that, I started getting impersonators trying to get my identity — my role as a priest — and my images.” He explained that these fake accounts began contacting his followers under false pretenses: “They would create false profiles and social media; create false images… And with that, they would start contacting people that would follow that social media, thinking that it was me.” Father Capó said verifying his official profiles helped mitigate the problem but acknowledged ongoing difficulties: “The problem nowadays is that it is not just impersonating a profile… It’s also creating videos. That takes the whole thing to the next level.”
Deacon John Rogers from Prenger Solutions Group advised Catholics to rely only on official or well-known Church communication channels when viewing online content. He suggested looking out for editing inconsistencies or unnatural appearances in videos as signs of possible manipulation: “That’s what everybody… calls ‘the uncanny valley’ — when somebody is close to human but not close enough.” Rogers also recommended regular spiritual reading as an antidote: “If everybody read five pages of good, solid Church documents a day … you’re equipped to kind of spot these for yourself.”
Pope Leo XIV addressed the issue directly in January during World Day of Social Communications: “It is important to educate ourselves and others about how to use AI intentionally…to protect our image (photos and audio), our face and our voice…to prevent them from being used in the creation of harmful content.” A Vatican newsletter reported receiving daily complaints about deepfakes portraying Pope Leo XIV saying things he never did or appearing in fabricated situations.
Steven Umbrello from the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies highlighted how deepfakes threaten moral authority within religious communities: “For Catholics this is especially serious because faith is transmitted not only through ideas but through credible witnesses… Deepfakes aim straight at that credibility.” Umbrello called for reliable verification processes within the Church while urging members not to share obvious fakes.
A recent Vatican document stated bluntly: “AI-generated fake media can gradually undermine the foundations of society.” As digital misinformation grows more sophisticated, Church leaders emphasize vigilance among both clergy and laity while reaffirming their commitment to ethical standards regarding new technologies.
