Fact check: Are there any official Pope Facebook or Instagram accounts?

1. Why the Vatican says “watch out for impostors” — scam alerts that forced a clarification

The Vatican’s communications offices issued warnings after fraudsters created Facebook pages claiming to be “Pope Leo XIV” and soliciting donations, prompting a Vatican Instagram post and other official messaging to disavow any official Facebook presence and to flag donation requests as illegitimate ^{[3] [4]}. The alerts emphasize that the Holy See manages its digital diplomacy centrally, and that unauthorized solicitations should be treated as scams, a practical point given the rapid follower growth on official channels that fraudsters exploit to mimic credibility ^{[4] [5]}. These warnings reflect both a protective public-safety aim and the Vatican’s desire to control its institutional voice online.

2. What the Vatican defines as “official” social accounts — X and Instagram under @Pontifex

Since mid-May 2025 the Vatican has declared that the official papal presence is carried on X and Instagram through the @Pontifex accounts, newly assigned to Pope Leo XIV following the transition from previous papal account structures; the Dicastery for Communication publicly announced and celebrated the pope’s inaugural posts on both platforms ^{[1] [2]}. Official reporting counts tens of millions of followers across languages—figures the Vatican cites when distinguishing legitimate accounts from impersonators—and the office frames these channels as the authorized means for papal messages, multimedia content, and multilingual outreach ^{[5] [2]}.

3. The timeline: how and when the Vatican migrated papal messaging to Instagram and X

Pope Leo XIV’s social-media debut occurred in mid-May 2025, when the Vatican moved the @Pontifex identity onto Instagram and reaffirmed its X presence, publishing first posts that included images from the early days of the pontificate and messages echoing his inaugural addresses ^{[6] [2]}. Follow-on communications in late May and June documented rapid follower growth—reported totals range around 13 million on Instagram and 52 million across X-language accounts—and the Holy See explicitly retained the archived @Franciscus account as a commemorative repository, underlining a continuity strategy rather than a discontinuity ^{[5] [2]}.

4. Conflicting or nuanced reporting — differences in phrasing and emphasis among sources

News items and Vatican releases converge on the main facts but differ in emphasis: some pieces stress the scam alert and lack of any official Facebook page, while others foreground the celebratory relaunch of papal social outreach and follower milestones ^{[3] [4] [2]}. The Vatican’s press materials present follower totals and platform choices as strategic communications wins, whereas consumer-facing warnings focus on immediate safety and donation fraud. These differences reflect editorial choices—public-safety framing versus institutional messaging—which can shape public perception of whether the story is primarily about security or publicity ^{[1] [4]}.

5. What is omitted or underemphasized — practical verification and archival policy

Available briefings do not deeply detail verification mechanics for the public to authenticate papal accounts beyond the @Pontifex name, nor do they elaborate on how the Vatican will police impersonators on third-party platforms such as Facebook. Reports note that the older @Franciscus handle is archived, but they provide limited information about how the archive is labeled to avoid confusion with active accounts, or about coordination with platforms to remove fraudulent pages. These omissions matter because the practical ability of users to distinguish official accounts influences both outreach effectiveness and scam vulnerability ^{[2] [3]}.

6. The big-picture takeaways: how to act and what to expect going forward

For now the clear factual posture is that the only official papal accounts are @Pontifex on X and Instagram, affirmed by multiple Vatican statements and contemporary reporting; any solicited donations via Facebook profiles claiming to be the pope should be treated as fraudulent ^{[2] [4]}. Expect continued Vatican use of those official channels for multilingual messaging and likely further advisories about impersonation; readers should verify accounts by looking for Vatican press releases or the Dicastery for Communication’s statements when in doubt, since the Holy See is framing social accounts centrally and will remain the authoritative source for account legitimacy ^{[1] [4]}.