“Pope Leo XIV intentionally ignored an LGBTQ rainbow flag by looking the other way when he approached it," a viral post on X with more than 12 million views claims.”
What Deutsche Welle found
The Pope is seen walking along a corridor lined up with throngs of people, alternating between shaking hands to his left and right side. He is turning to the other side before the flag appears on screen. The multicolored "rainbow" flag in the video is not the LGBTQ flag: it's the Italian peace flag with the Italian word for peace (pace) on it.
Their words, from the summary they publish with the rating.
In short
This claim spread on social media around 12 May 2025. Deutsche Welle (United States) looked into it and published its finding on 27 May 2025, 15 days later. Its rating was “False”.
Where the claim appeared
Links recorded by Deutsche Welle. Some posts may have been deleted since.
This check was done by Deutsche Welle, not by DoesItStand. We list it so you can find it. Their full evidence and reasoning are in their article.