FACT CHECK: Did Pope Francis ‘Cancel’ The Bible And Propose Replacing It?

A post shared on Facebook over 150 times claims Pope Francis said the Bible is “outdated” and will be replaced.

Verdict: False

Pope Francis has not made such an announcement. The claim appears to stem from a satire article.

Fact Check:

The image in the Facebook post shows what appears to be a screen grab of a news article entitled: “Pope Francis cancels the Bible and proposes to create a new book.” The article’s visible first paragraph claims Pope Francis called the Bible “completely outdated,” and he deemed the Christian scriptural canon “officially canceled.” The text further states that a new book will be chosen to replace the Bible.

The pope has not, however, “canceled” the Bible. Check Your Fact reviewed Pope Francis’ messages, speeches and other documents released in the daily Holy See Press Office Bulletin, but found no instances of him stating the Bible is outdated, canceled or going to be replaced. No such opinion is mentioned in any of his tweets, either.

Had the pope stated he was planning on replacing the Bible, media outlets certainly would have reported on it, yet none have. In fact, he expressed a different sentiment in a June 2019 tweet. (RELATED: ‘Book Of Yeezus’ – Did Kanye West Publish A Bible That Replaces ‘God’ With His Name?)

“The Bible is not just a beautiful book to keep on a shelf. It is the Word of life be sown, a gift that the Risen Jesus asks us to accept in order to have life in His name,” Pope Francis tweeted.

The screen grab shown in the Facebook post appears to stem from an April 2018 article posted on the website thereisnews.com. The website states its content is “not real, but so funny.” Nevertheless, some social media users have shared the article’s text as if it were factual.