A video of 2023, which shows a midnight mass to celebrate Christmas in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, has resurfaced in social media posts that falsely portray it as an event being held to mark Pope Francis’ visit to the Muslim-majority archipelago. The claim circulated online days before the pope held a mass at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno football stadium on September 5.
“Catholic mass with Pope Francis at GBK,” read the Indonesian text overlay on the video shared on TikTok on September 3, 2024, using the abbreviation for football stadium.
It was shared days before Pope Francis held mass in the Indonesian capital.
The leader of the Catholic Church visited the Muslim-majority archipelago from September 3 to 6, where he also met with religious leaders at Southeast Asia’s largest mosque.
After Indonesia, he would visit Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. It was the longest tour of the 87-year-old pope.
Similar claims about the video were also shared on the SnackVideo platform and on Instagram.
Comments on the posts showed that some people believed the video showed Francis’ mass in Jakarta.
“I was moved to tears. Welcome to Indonesia, sir,” said one user.
“Awesome. I was “I started shaking and shivering just looking at it,” said another user.
Christmas celebration
Google keyword searches showed that the circulating video matched an earlier clip here of a mass held at the football stadium in 2023 to celebrate Christmas (archived link) here).
The annual event features a number of recognizable elements, including the Christmas tree lights near the stage, the stage itself, and the lighting of the building in the background.
Below you can see a screenshot of the fake post (left) and the TikTok video of the Christmas celebration (right):
The same event was discussed local media Metro TV (archived link). Footage taken inside the stadium generally matches the video circulating in fake news reports online, as seen below:
The mass that Pope Francis attended at GBK was held in the late afternoon until the evening for two hours. There was no large-scale candle lighting during the celebration.
The central part of the stadium, the football field, was also not used for the event.
Catholics make up less than three percent of the archipelago’s population, about eight million people, compared to the 87 percent, or 242 million, who are Muslim.
They are one of six officially recognized religions or denominations in the essentially secular country, including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
AFP has previously debunked False claims about the Pope’s visit to Indonesia.
