Mumbai: A video, claiming that former Pope Benedict had recently converted to Islam and performed Hajj this year at the invitation of Saudi King Salman, is being widely shared on vatious social media platforms.
Social media users who are sharing this video since Hajj 2018 ended on August 21 this year with varying comments, little aware that the claim is fake as the man seen in the video is not former Pope Benedict.
"A former Ppope escorted by Saudi security forces to perform Hajj - A resgined Cathlic Pope Benedict XVI is spotted in Saudi Arabia performing Hajj. It's alleged that he resigned immediately after discovering that Islam is the true religion of God", one social media user wrote while tagging the video.
However, a fact check showed that the man in white robe seen in the video is actually Makkah Governor Prince Khalid bin Faisal, and not former Pope Benedict.
France 24 which analysed the viral video found that the video is in a square shape -- which is the format for Instagram. There’s also a credit on the image, which reads: "Instgram al _ saud _".
The video has actually been posted on the account fairly recently – but with a totally different caption. It says that the man featured is actually Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, the Governor of Makkah.
On scrolling, one can see the same account also features several other photos and videos that show the man in white, and who is clearly recognisable as the Governor of Makkah Khalid bin Faisal, who normally leads Hajj in the absence of King Salman.
Pope Benedict XVI served as pope and soverign of the Vatican City state from 2005 until his resgination in 2013. Claims that he resigned as pope because he had realized that Islam is true religion strated surfacing soon after this.
Some reports even claimed that Benedict XVI after converting to Islam has changed his name to Sajjad Sayyid Ratzinger keeping his surbane purely for logistical reasons.
Later events however proved all these claims wrong. It was also found later on that Benedict XVI actually has a very bitter views about Islam.
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