Fact check: Filipino Cardinal Tagle is not the 267th pope

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MANILA, Philippines — Even hours after the Vatican announced the new pope, multiple online posts still falsely claimed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the 267th pontiff who took the name Pope Luis I.

An edited photo falsely showing Tagle being crowned with the papal headgear “miter,” alongside two unidentified cardinals in red robes and the late Pope Francis lying with his eyes closed, circulated online bearing a misspelled text:

“Breaking: Cardinal Tagle Crownd As Pope Luis I — A New Era Begins…” 

The image’s accompanying caption, however, uses the correct spelling of “crowned” and continues with either a non-clickable “See more” or “Read More here,” sometimes accompanied by a link to a fake article and YouTube video of Tagle named as the new pope. 

RATING: This is false. 

Facts

According to Vatican News and several other media outlets, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is the 267th Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.

The secret conclave, consisting of 133 cardinal-electors, reached a two-thirds majority consensus on the fourth ballot, choosing Prevost as the new pope.

White smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at around 12:08 a.m. on May 9, 2025 (PST), indicating that the conclave had successfully elected the next pope.

An hour later, Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti announced the new pope before a crowd of thousands.

After declaring, “Habemus Papam,” meaning “We have a pope,” Mamberti introduced and proclaimed Prevost as the new pontiff in Latin: 

“The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Robert Francis Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Prevost, who has taken the name Leo XIV.”

This makes Prevost the first American and Augustinian pope in the long history of the Catholic Church.

Why we fact-checked this

Philstar.com conducted a quick search and found that the same photo and caption were posted by at least 20 Facebook accounts a few hours before and after Prevost was proclaimed the new pope. Here are some of them. 

One particular post in a Facebook group at 6:41 a.m. on May 9 was shared by 419 accounts across various groups, including those focused on food recipes, fan clubs, trading and job hiring, with no specific common interest.  

However, the photo had already started circulating on Facebook as early as May 7, when the conclave began and the first ballot was cast. One post at 11:04 p.m. on May 7 garnered 937 shares and comments congratulating Tagle.

While Tagle was considered one of the frontrunners, or “papabiles,” to succeed Pope Francis and was often referred to as his Asian counterpart, he was not selected by the College of Cardinals.

Compared to Prevost, Tagle also received more coverage from both local and international media before and during the conclave, largely due to his similarities with the late Pope Francis.

RELATED: Fact Check: If elected, would Tagle be the first 'Asian' pope?