Pope Leo XIV’s Viral Smoking Photo Debunked as Fake Amid Cancer Surgery Recovery

A photograph circulating online that appears to show Pope Leo XIV smoking a cigarette has been exposed as a doctored image, after investigators traced it to an authentic photograph of the pontiff taken before he became pope.

The original image, which contains no cigarette, was provided by his brother, John Prevost, to The Virginian-Pilot on May 8, 2025, the day Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope. The discovery comes as Leo XIV recovers from surgery for a cancerous tumor in his right lung, while other images claiming to show him in hospital have also circulated online.

The altered photograph has raised concerns about misinformation surrounding the pope’s personal history and health. The image was shared alongside claims linking his hospitalization to a video in which he encouraged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 during the pandemic, when he was serving as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. However, the available evidence does not establish whether the pope smoked in the past or support claims that smoking caused his illness.

Original Photograph Reveals Cigarette Was Added

I.MEDIA, a media agency that investigated the viral image, tracked down the original photograph and found that the cigarette had been added through editing. The unaltered picture shows a young Prevost without a cigarette.

The photograph was supplied to The Virginian-Pilot by John Prevost in May 2025. It also appeared in a Nov. 10, 2025, article by journalist Salvatore Cernuzio on Vatican News, the Vatican’s official news outlet. That publication identified it as a photograph taken on the day of Prevost’s priestly ordination.

The comparison between the two versions provides a clear indication of the manipulation: the original photograph contains no cigarette, while the image circulating online has been altered to make it appear that the future pope was smoking.

The source report does not identify who edited the image or establish when the manipulation was first created. It also does not provide evidence that the altered photograph reflects the pope’s actual behavior.

Fake Photo Shared Alongside Claims About Pope’s Health

The doctored image was shared by an account on X identified in the report as JohnTraddington. The account also drew a connection between the pope’s hospitalization and a video in which he encouraged the faithful to receive COVID-19 vaccinations while he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru.

Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery on Oct. 13, 2026, to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, which contained a cancerous tumor. When asked whether he had smoked in the past, the Holy See Press Office said it had no information on the matter.

That response does not confirm or rule out a past smoking history. More importantly, the doctored photograph cannot establish one because the cigarette was added to an authentic image.

The available report also does not establish any connection between the pope’s past behavior, the vaccination video, and his cancerous tumor. Treating the altered photograph as proof of a medical explanation would go beyond the evidence presented.

AI-Generated Hospital Images Add to the Confusion

The smoking photograph is not the only misleading visual circulating during the pope’s recovery. Images shared online reportedly show Leo XIV in a hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask or nasal cannula. Other pictures portray him smiling, waving, or giving a thumbs-up.

According to Aleteia’s report, the Vatican had released photographs of the pope celebrating Mass at Gemelli Hospital on Friday. The hospital-bed images reviewed by Aleteia appeared to have been generated using artificial intelligence rather than taken by Vatican photographers.

The distinction matters because realistic-looking images can give people the false impression that they are seeing verified updates about a public figure’s condition. The report does not establish that every image circulating online is fake, so individual pictures need to be assessed against reliable sources.

How to Check Whether Papal Photos Are Authentic

Aleteia recommends checking Vatican News for authentic statements and photographs of the pope. Readers can also compare a viral image with the original publication, check whether a reputable outlet has verified it, and avoid sharing pictures whose source cannot be established.

The altered smoking photograph demonstrates why such checks matter. An authentic image can be changed to suggest something that the original does not show, while AI-generated pictures can create scenes that never happened.

Until reliable evidence establishes otherwise, the doctored photograph should not be used to make claims about Pope Leo XIV’s smoking history or the cause of his illness.