HOAX: Pope Francis ‘kisses’ model on the chest

Claim: A photo was publicly posted on Facebook by a certain Herbert Florida showing Pope Francis planting a kiss on the chest of a model, accompanied by the caption “What is this???”

As of posting time, the photo has gotten 60 reactions, 23 comments, and 12 shares.

Some of the commenters slammed the Pope for the photo, with one labeling him as a “maniac.” Others mockingly said, “Madami siguro gatas (Perhaps she has a lot of breast milk)” and “Galing ni Pope (The Pope is skillful).”

One commenter even used the photo to justify the kiss of President Rodrigo Duterte to a married overseas Filipino worker in South Korea.

“Kay Digong lips, pero kay Pope bakit walang issue (Duterte kissed the woman on the lips, but why was there no uproar against the Pope)?” the commenter said.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: As other commenters pointed out already, the photo is fake.

The image of the model was taken from a photo used in various websites. She was named in those websites as Vicky Xipolitakis, a model who wanted to meet Pope Francis in Paraguay during his 2015 visit but was escorted away for not wearing a bra beneath her sheer white t-shirt.

The real, unedited photos show only Xipolitakis. Pope Francis did not kiss her. In fact, reports said that because she was escorted out, she never met the Pontiff in person.

Photos of a kissing Pope Francis, meanwhile, are not difficult to obtain, given that he kisses a lot of babies and relics.

– Rambo Talabong/Rappler.com

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