You’ve seen it. Even if you don't spend all day scrolling through social media, you probably caught a glimpse of that viral picture of the pope in a massive, stylish white puffer jacket. It looked like something straight off a Balenciaga runway. Honestly, for a few hours in early 2023, the entire internet was convinced Pope Francis had finally decided to embrace high-fashion streetwear.
He hadn't.
It was a fake. Specifically, it was a hyper-realistic image generated by Midjourney, an AI tool that has basically flipped the script on how we perceive visual "truth." We are living in a weird era where seeing isn't necessarily believing anymore. It’s kinda terrifying if you think about it too hard. This wasn't just a funny meme; it was a watershed moment for digital literacy. It showed that even the most skeptical people can be fooled by a well-rendered prompt and a bit of lighting.
The Picture of the Pope and the Death of "Evidence"
The "Puffer Pope" wasn't the first AI image, and it definitely won't be the last. But why did this specific picture of the pope break the internet? It’s mostly because it hit the "uncanny valley" perfectly. It wasn't grotesque or obviously distorted. The texture of the jacket looked like real nylon. The way the sunlight hit the fabric felt authentic. Even the shadow under his glasses was right.
Most people didn't stop to look at the hands. That’s usually the giveaway with AI—extra fingers or blurred knuckles. In the original viral shot, the hand holding the coffee cup (or whatever it was) looked a little messy if you zoomed in. But nobody zooms in on a first pass. We just scroll and react. We’re wired to trust our eyes, and Midjourney v5 tapped into that evolutionary hardware.
Pablo Xavier, the 31-year-old construction worker from Chicago who created the image, told BuzzFeed News he was just tripping on mushrooms and thought it would be funny. He didn't expect to spark a global debate on the ethics of generative technology. But he did. He showed that with a simple text prompt, anyone can manufacture a reality that world leaders, journalists, and your grandma will all believe for a split second.
Why Deepfakes Are Getting Harder to Spot
Technically speaking, we're looking at Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and diffusion models. Basically, these systems are trained on millions of real photos. They learn the "math" of what a face looks like, how shadows fall, and how different fabrics drape over a human frame. When you ask for a picture of the pope, the AI isn't searching for a photo in a database. It's "hallucinating" a brand new image based on the statistical patterns it learned during training.
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It’s basically a super-advanced version of autocomplete, but for pixels instead of words.
The scary part? It’s getting better every week. What was a struggle for AI a year ago—like teeth or consistent lighting—is now almost solved. We used to say "check the background" or "look for weird ears." Now, the AI is often better at rendering those details than a low-res smartphone camera. We’re moving toward a "post-truth" visual environment where every image requires a metadata check before it can be cited as fact.
Real Photos vs. AI: How the Vatican Actually Manages Imagery
The Catholic Church is actually one of the most photographed institutions on the planet. There is a huge difference between a manufactured picture of the pope and the official photography coming out of the Vatican Media office. The Vatican has a very specific "visual brand." It's usually candid but dignified. You’ll see the Pope kissing babies, riding in the Popemobile, or sitting in the Apostolic Palace.
You won't see him in Balenciaga.
- Vatican Media (Vatican News): This is the primary source. They have photographers who follow the Pope everywhere. If you see a photo that isn't credited to them or a major wire service like AP, Getty, or Reuters, be suspicious.
- The "Social" Pope: Pope Francis has been more open to selfies and casual interactions than his predecessors. This makes it easier for fakes to blend in because we’re already used to seeing him in less formal settings.
- Lighting and Context: Real Vatican photos usually have "flat" or natural lighting. AI fakes often use "cinematic" lighting—high contrast, dramatic shadows, and saturated colors—that makes the subject look like a movie star.
If you’re looking at a picture of the pope and it looks too cool, it probably isn't real. The Vatican is many things, but "trying to look like a hypebeast" isn't high on the list of priorities.
The Ethics of Fabricating Religious Figures
There’s a deeper layer here. It’s not just about the jacket. Since the puffer incident, we’ve seen AI images of the Pope in combat gear, the Pope at Coachella, and even more controversial scenarios. This brings up some heavy questions about "personality rights" and religious sensitivity.
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Is it okay to use a religious leader’s likeness for a joke? Most would say yes, it’s satire. But what happens when the AI is used to create a picture of the pope saying something he never said or being somewhere he never was to incite political unrest? That's the real danger. The "Puffer Pope" was a harmless entry point into a much darker possibility of misinformation.
How to Fact-Check an Image in 2026
You don't need a PhD in computer science to verify a photo. You just need a bit of healthy cynicism.
First, do a reverse image search. Tools like Google Lens or TinEye are your best friends. If the picture of the pope you’re looking at only exists on Twitter (X) or Reddit and doesn't appear on any major news site, it's a fake. News organizations like the Associated Press have entire departments dedicated to verifying visual assets. If they aren't running it, there's a reason.
Check the edges. AI often struggles where one object meets another. Look at the collar of a shirt against the neck. Look at fingers touching a glass. If the edges are "fuzzy" or seem to melt into each other, you’re looking at a synthetic image.
Also, look for the "shimmer." AI images often have a weirdly smooth, plastic-like texture on the skin. Real skin has pores, scars, and uneven tones. AI tends to airbrush everything into a weirdly perfect—but lifeless—finish.
The Future of the "Puffer Pope" Phenomenon
We are likely going to see more of this. As tools like DALL-E 3 and Midjourney become more accessible, the barrier to entry for creating "fake news" vanishes. It used to take a skilled Photoshop artist hours to make a convincing fake. Now it takes a ten-word prompt and fifteen seconds.
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The Vatican has actually addressed the rise of AI. Pope Francis himself has spoken about the "ambivalent" nature of artificial intelligence, calling for a "global treaty" to ensure its ethical use. It's kind of ironic that the man who became the face of AI misinformation is now one of the leading voices calling for its regulation.
What does this mean for you? Basically, take everything with a grain of salt. The next time you see a wild picture of the pope, or any world leader for that matter, don't hit "share" immediately.
- Verify the source. Who posted it? Is it a verified news outlet or "CoolGuy420" on Telegram?
- Look for the artifacts. Extra limbs, weird shadows, and melting backgrounds are dead giveaways.
- Check the news. If something that big actually happened, every journalist on earth would be writing about it.
The reality is that we can't trust our eyes as much as we used to. We have to trust our filters. Digital literacy is no longer an optional skill; it’s a survival mechanism in a world where a picture of the pope can be whipped up by a guy in a basement on a whim.
Stay skeptical. Look at the hands. And maybe don't buy into the idea of a streetwear-obsessed Pontiff just yet.
Practical Steps for Identifying AI Images
- Use Chrome’s "Search Image with Google" feature to see the original context of any photo.
- Zoom in on the background characters. AI often ignores the faces of people in the background, leaving them looking like something out of a horror movie.
- Follow official channels. For the Pope, that means @Pontifex on X or the official Vatican News website.
- Install a browser extension like "Fake Image Detector" which can sometimes spot metadata inconsistencies that aren't visible to the naked eye.
The "Puffer Pope" was a fun moment, sure. But it was also a warning shot. We’re in the Wild West of digital media now. Keep your guard up.