By Pascal Ibe

Claim

An X user, @drpenking posted a video showing people with covered faces in procession alongside the claim this was during the funeral of Pope Francis

Verdict

This claim is MISLEADING. Findings indicated that this is a religious procession, likely during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain. The participants, known as “nazarenos” or penitents, are wearing traditional robes and pointed hoods called “capirotes.”

Full Text

An X user, @drpenking has published a video showing people with covered faces in procession alongside the claim this was during the funeral of Pope Francis.

The X user wrote “There seems to be a lot we didn’t know about Catholicism until the Pope’s death. Is this how Jesus Christ was buried? Which Bible portion supports this practice?

The post generated over 548k views and more than 1.3k likes, according to X analytics.

Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday due to a protracted stroke, was laid to rest on Saturday at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in the Italian capital.

Verification

A Google Image Reverse Search conducted on the keyframes from the video showed that a religious procession, likely during Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain. The participants, known as “nazarenos” or penitents, are wearing traditional robes and pointed hoods called “capirotes.”

Religious associations known as cofradías or ‘brotherhoods’ are at the heart of the traditional ceremonies.

Many brotherhoods date back to the Middle Ages.

Semana Santa processions are also known as ‘penance processions’ in which members of the brotherhoods, nazarenos, parade from their church to the city’s cathedral carrying floats, known as tronos.

Precious religious icons are brought out of churches and paraded on immense golden thrones in lavish processions that bring millions of locals and tourists together in the run-up to Easter.

From Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday, city center thoroughfares come to a standstill to make way for these mega fiestas.

Many of the biggest parades – on which no money is spared – have been declared events of tourist interest to offset expenses

Read the full history here.

This video depicting Pope Francis’s funeral was first shared by Catholic Arena on X and here on 11th April, two days before the start of Holy Week. So this has nothing to do with Pope Francis’s burial recently.

Conclusion

The X user recycled an unrelated video of the Holy Week procession in Spain and attributed it to the late Pope Francis’s funeral.