Were Africans Denied Access From Bidding Farewell To Pope Francis?
There has been a claim in circulation from the parody account of a popular social media influencer, Very Dark Man also known as VDM. The post claimed that Africans are denied access from bidding farewell to the late Pope Francis who died on April 21, 2025. The parody account, @thatverydarkma1 posted the claim on X on April 24th, 2025, via its verified handle. In the 38 seconds video, a black man was being escorted out from a crowd, and the footage had the caption “Africans are denied access to go bid the Pope farewell💔💔💔.”
As of the time of publishing this report, the post has gone quite viral with 13,500,000 views, 6,200 comments and mentions, 11,000 retweets and quotes, 69,000 likes and impressions and 11,000 bookmarks. It was however met with mixed reactions. In the comment section, @Dbanj25 wrote “This proves that we will never have a Black Pope. Black must forget, No white person is going to Vote for a Black person to lead the Catholic” while @real_lord_miles said “Probably because he was acting like an animal. Shouting, anger, very disrespectful at a funeral. Black people have the biggest victim complex”.
Similar claims can be seen on Thread, Instagram and on Facebook.
VERIFICATION
The late Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis, passed away on April 21, 2025, Easter Monday, at age 88 due to a stroke and heart failure. His body was laid in state at St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday, April 26, 2025, which was attended by world leaders including President Donald Trump of the United States of America, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Volodymr Zelensky of Ukraine, King Felipe VI of Spain, among others.
Pope Francis is being widely remembered across Africa as a compassionate and staunch advocate for peace, justice, and his deep concerns for the marginalized. His bold 2015 visit to Bangui, Central African Republic, where he entered a Muslim neighbourhood amid civil conflict and prayed in a mosque, left a lasting impression on many who see him as a vanguard of reconciliation and interfaith unity. During his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis visited 10 African countries and consistently emphasized the need to provide for the poor, denounce exploitation, and promote peace.
Following the announcement of his death, various African communities have been actively participating in memorials and tributes for the late Pope. In Nigeria, parishioners lined up to sign a condolence book beneath his portrait. In South Sudan, Father James Rombe knelt to pray along with students at the St. Lawrence Minor Seminary, where he highlighted the Pope's teachings on humility and servant leadership.
On April 23, 2025, Mr Peter Obi, an African and of course, a Nigerian was spotted in the Vatican alongside other Christian faithful, where he attended the Pope’s lying-in-state ceremony. Along with him was Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Cardinal-Bishop of Velletri-Segni. He is another black man and in fact commonly referred to as the ‘aging lion’ of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa. However, the question remains whether ordinary Africans were allowed to pay their last respect to the pontiff or not.
To verify the video and accompanying claim, NV-A obtained a longer version of the clip posted on X. Findings show that the man in the video was speaking an East African dialect, affirming that he is African. However, eyewitness accounts revealed that he or any other regular Africans were not denied access to bid the Pope farewell.
An eyewitness account video which is in Italian, was translated by NV-A and here is what we found. The black man in the video mentioned that his name is Samuel and he has indeed come to pay his tributes to the late Pope. However, the security officials had to escort him out of the space because he started singing and dancing on the spot. This was considered inappropriate by the officials and that was what led to him being escorted out of the crowd.
Popular Italian YouTuber, Cicalone Simone who also witnessed the situation offered clarity in this video. When NV-A translated the video, Simone was seen saying that; “The problem is that he’s blowing his top and singing. That is not nice today.”
He also remarked that the man had been arrested earlier in Via Gavurra, a province close to the Vatican city for a similar act. Translated, he said; “There is no shortage of the boy who comes here to the Vatican every day or almost every day and prays in his own way. We talked to him but he wants to sing and pray because he is used to it and he said that this way, both God and the Pope are happy. That is not nice today. That is why he is asked to leave from the crowd”.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Africans are denied access from bidding farewell to Pope Francis is FALSE, as this is not supported by any credible evidence. The African man who was seen escorted out of the crowd in the widely circulated video was singing and dancing at the venue of the tribute. This was objected to by these officials and led to him being escorted out by security officials.
There has been a claim in circulation from the parody account of a popular social media influencer, Very Dark Man also known as VDM. The post claimed that Africans are denied access from bidding farewell to the late Pope Francis who died on April 21, 2025. The parody account, @thatverydarkma1 posted the claim on X on April 24th, 2025, via its verified handle. In the 38 seconds video, a black man was being escorted out from a crowd, and the footage had the caption “Africans are denied access to go bid the Pope farewell💔💔💔.”
As of the time of publishing this report, the post has gone quite viral with 13,500,000 views, 6,200 comments and mentions, 11,000 retweets and quotes, 69,000 likes and impressions and 11,000 bookmarks. It was however met with mixed reactions. In the comment section, @Dbanj25 wrote “This proves that we will never have a Black Pope. Black must forget, No white person is going to Vote for a Black person to lead the Catholic” while @real_lord_miles said “Probably because he was acting like an animal. Shouting, anger, very disrespectful at a funeral. Black people have the biggest victim complex”.
Similar claims can be seen on Thread, Instagram and on Facebook.
VERIFICATION
The late Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known as Pope Francis, passed away on April 21, 2025, Easter Monday, at age 88 due to a stroke and heart failure. His body was laid in state at St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday, April 26, 2025, which was attended by world leaders including President Donald Trump of the United States of America, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Volodymr Zelensky of Ukraine, King Felipe VI of Spain, among others.
Pope Francis is being widely remembered across Africa as a compassionate and staunch advocate for peace, justice, and his deep concerns for the marginalized. His bold 2015 visit to Bangui, Central African Republic, where he entered a Muslim neighbourhood amid civil conflict and prayed in a mosque, left a lasting impression on many who see him as a vanguard of reconciliation and interfaith unity. During his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis visited 10 African countries and consistently emphasized the need to provide for the poor, denounce exploitation, and promote peace.
Following the announcement of his death, various African communities have been actively participating in memorials and tributes for the late Pope. In Nigeria, parishioners lined up to sign a condolence book beneath his portrait. In South Sudan, Father James Rombe knelt to pray along with students at the St. Lawrence Minor Seminary, where he highlighted the Pope's teachings on humility and servant leadership.
On April 23, 2025, Mr Peter Obi, an African and of course, a Nigerian was spotted in the Vatican alongside other Christian faithful, where he attended the Pope’s lying-in-state ceremony. Along with him was Francis Cardinal Arinze, the Cardinal-Bishop of Velletri-Segni. He is another black man and in fact commonly referred to as the ‘aging lion’ of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa. However, the question remains whether ordinary Africans were allowed to pay their last respect to the pontiff or not.
To verify the video and accompanying claim, NV-A obtained a longer version of the clip posted on X. Findings show that the man in the video was speaking an East African dialect, affirming that he is African. However, eyewitness accounts revealed that he or any other regular Africans were not denied access to bid the Pope farewell.
An eyewitness account video which is in Italian, was translated by NV-A and here is what we found. The black man in the video mentioned that his name is Samuel and he has indeed come to pay his tributes to the late Pope. However, the security officials had to escort him out of the space because he started singing and dancing on the spot. This was considered inappropriate by the officials and that was what led to him being escorted out of the crowd.
Popular Italian YouTuber, Cicalone Simone who also witnessed the situation offered clarity in this video. When NV-A translated the video, Simone was seen saying that; “The problem is that he’s blowing his top and singing. That is not nice today.”
He also remarked that the man had been arrested earlier in Via Gavurra, a province close to the Vatican city for a similar act. Translated, he said; “There is no shortage of the boy who comes here to the Vatican every day or almost every day and prays in his own way. We talked to him but he wants to sing and pray because he is used to it and he said that this way, both God and the Pope are happy. That is not nice today. That is why he is asked to leave from the crowd”.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Africans are denied access from bidding farewell to Pope Francis is FALSE, as this is not supported by any credible evidence. The African man who was seen escorted out of the crowd in the widely circulated video was singing and dancing at the venue of the tribute. This was objected to by these officials and led to him being escorted out by security officials.
However, many regular Africans were seen paying their last respects to Pope Francis while dignitaries including President Joao Lourenco of Angola, Jose Maria Neves of Cape Verde, Faustin-Archange Touadera of Central Africa Republic, Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo, Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon as well as Cardinal Stephen Brislin, the President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference were in attendance. Nigeria also sent a five-member delegation to Rome for the funeral.
