Pope Francis says Lula da Silva was victim of ‘fake news’

Pope Francis said in an interview released this Sunday (Dec. 18) that President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was the victim of “fake news” and that the process that led to the PT’s imprisonment created “an atmosphere that favored his trial.”

The Pope’s speech was made after being questioned by the editor of the Spanish newspaper ABC, Julián Quirós, and the Vatican correspondent, Javier Martínez-Brocal, about what he thinks of what happened in Brazil with Lula da Silva.

“It is a paradigmatic case. The trial process began with false news in the media, ‘fake news,’ which created an atmosphere that favored his trial,” the Argentine said.

For Francis, “the problem of ‘fake news’ about political and social leaders is severe” because “it can destroy a person.”

“I don’t know how it ended. It doesn’t give the impression that it was a decent process. And in this regard, beware of those who create the climate for any process,” he said, adding that “they do this through the press to influence those who must judge and decide,” Pope Francis said.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error