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Photographs of Pope Francis wearing a rainbow-coloured cross which many claim represents the LGBTQ+ community have recently gone viral on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“And before our astonished eyes, the pope has just invented the LGBT Cross,” quipped one user.

“Today Pope Francis wore, along with his cross, another that was given to him with LGBT colors and started a controversy,” tweeted another account. 

After doing a reverse image search, the Cube found the photograph is not a recent one. 

It was taken in 2018 during the Fifteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops organised by the Vatican. 

The official Twitter account of the Vatican explained the coloured cross was a gift from the Latin American Youth Ministry.

According to the Ministry’s website, each of the four colours represents a different region of Latin America. 

For example, green represents Mexico and Central America while yellow represents the Caribbean. 

The pride flag is slightly different. There are many versions of it but the most popular one has six different colours. 

It’s not the first time this image has been shared on social media spreading mis- and disinformation about Pope Francis. 

Similar tweets popped up in 2020 claiming the pope was sporting an LGBTQ+ coloured cross when visiting Poland, a conservative country. 

Pope Francis has indeed adopted a more conciliatory tone toward LGBTQ+ people compared to his predecessors.

In October, he suggested it may be possible to bless same-sex unions, although he did reiterate that marriage in the Catholic church is between a man and a woman.

In August, the Pope called on the hundreds of thousands gathered before him to shout that the Catholic Church is a place for everyone, including the LGBTQ+ community. 

He has also criticised laws that criminalise homosexuality around the world.