No such cardinal exists, and his photo was generated by artificial intelligence. In addition, the Vatican Bank does not hold accounts for governments, foreign individuals or clients unrelated to the Catholic Church or the Holy See.
Social media users are sharing claims that a cardinal called Il-Cotone Faskifo has allegedly promised that, if elected Pope, he would seize all of Vladimir Putin’s assets held in the Vatican bank and transfer them to help rebuild Ukraine. The allegation is accompanied by a photograph of the so-called cardinal wearing clothes emblazoned with the Ukrainian flag.
This story is completely fabricated and contains several false claims.
Firstly, there is no such cardinal – the official lists of cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church do not include anyone with this name. Analysis of the photo using AIorNot and HiveModeration tools suggests that the image of the “cardinal” was most likely created using artificial intelligence.
Secondly, the allegation that Russian President Vladimir Putin keeps part of his wealth in the Vatican Bank has already been denied by the Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine.
«The Istituto per le Opere di Religione manages only those accounts whose holders are fiscal or juridical persons connected to the Catholic Church or to the Holy See (as, for example, the Embassies accredited to the Holy See) and never those belonging to foreign persons or governments,» the nunciature stated.
StopFake has also debunked other fakes involving AI-generated images and videos. We also have a guide on how to identify and analyse AI-generated photos.
