‘Satanic’ Vatican conspiracy theories swirl after death of Pope Francis
The pontiff's death reignited some of the conspiracy theories that are frequently levelled at the Catholic Church
As the leader of one of the world’s largest religions, the death of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, sparked an outpouring of tributes and messages of grief across social media.
It also reignited some of the conspiracy theories that are frequently levelled at the Catholic Church, an ancient institution that dates back to Roman times and boasts a membership of over a billion people.
While some of these were specifically linked to the late pope, others involved more general commentary rising from the intrigue, power and secrecy of the Vatican.
One of these long-running conspiracy theories relates to secret messages and signs that, according to proponents, prove the church is actually satanic.
CLAIMS
Images of a Vatican audience room were shared with claims that a statue shows Jesus with a snake surrounded by demons, including one post that was viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Linked theories included claims that Vatican buildings were designed to represent snakes.
BACKGROUND
While many of the posts we saw online had barely any engagement, one version had racked up over 600,000 views at the time of writing.
That post was published by @LightOnLiberty, who wrote: “Are we just supposed to pretend the Vatican having a snake coming out of Jesus’ head surrounded by demons within a building resembling a snake from the inside and out, ISN’T satanic?”
A second post in the same thread claims: “NONE of this is the Lord. Satan took over the Vatican”. That post included images of Vatican buildings and made claims that they were designed to look like a snake head and a pregnant snake.
According to her bio, the uploader is Bridgett Fertig, an Ohio-based Conservative American who is committed to “Finding Truth in the Darkness”.
She is a vocal supporter of the Trump administration, and in a pinned post decrying state agencies and hailing the incoming Trump presidency, she even describes herself as a conspiracy theorist.
A look at the common themes frequently posted by an uploader allows us to gain an insight into their beliefs and ideas, which can give us clues about the content we’re looking at.
Some of this uploader’s other recent posts involve speculation about the Clintons, the Bidens and Anthony Fauci, as well as an Easter Sunday statement containing some commonly-seen conspiracy theories about the Democrats.
Similar posts about the Vatican were also shared by other accounts that have a clear history of leaning into overlapping conspiracy theories about secretive satanic messages, the ‘Deep State’ and the globalist elite.
For example, this post spouting the snake claims appeared in the middle of a thread that also discussed Klaus Schwab’s resignation on the same day from the World Economic Forum, the organisation he founded which is most famous for its annual Davos gathering of political and business leaders. The WEF and its Great Reset post-Covid economic recovery plan are constantly features of right-wing conspiracy theory culture, which takes a dim view of the ‘globalist elite’.
Comparisons were drawn between Klaus’ resignation in his 88th year and Pope Francis’ death at 88 – a number the uploader says is a “sign of infinity”. All of this was somehow linked to the next pope being the one who will “usher in the Antichrist”, the uploader wrote.
That uploader then included a graphic that linked together the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Vatican, the Knights Templar, the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the Jesuits, among others – seemingly all parts of a web of secret societies in operation from ancient times to the present day.
Meanwhile, in an X post that seemed to appear apropos of nothing, but was published the same day as the pope’s death, U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said: “Today there were major shifts in global leaderships. Evil is being defeated by the hand of God.”
It was not clear whether Taylor Greene was making reference to the pope, Schwab’s resignation, or neither. The Republican has become known for her support of the QAnon movement and other fringe conspiracy theories.
While it would be impossible to unpick the huge tangle of theories involving the Vatican that go right to the heart of modern-day conspiracy culture, we can still analyse some of the specific images being shared since the pope’s death.
METHOD
The large theatre seen in the indoor images is the Paul VI Audience Hall. It is where the pope frequently holds indoor conferences and audiences, as it can seat over 6,000 people.
The hall is much more modern than much of what we usually see in the Vatican, because it only opened in the early 1970s. Inside, the stage where the pope would normally sit also features a large bronze sculpture depicting Jesus.
‘The Resurrection’ was completed by Pericle Fazzini in the 1970s and is the largest project by a single artist in the Vatican since Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in the early 1500s. A report by the Catholic News Service says the piece gets mixed reviews, with some commentators describing it as “creepy” and “demonic”.
It’s no surprise that people picked up on a dark theme in the work, because it was partially inspired by the violence and chaos of the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, and the looming worldwide threat of nuclear war at the time of its creation.
In his personal notes, the artist, Fazzini, wrote that he had the idea of “resurrecting Christ from a Garden of Gethsemane rocked by a nuclear explosion”.
An AP report on Fazzini’s death in 1987 cited the artist’s own words from a book about the work in which he described what he wished to depict: “Suddenly there came to me the idea of Christ preaching peace for 2,000 years, and the place where the prayed for the last time: the olive grove of Gethsemane. I had the idea of depicting Christ as if he were rising again from the explosion of this large olive grove … Christ rises from this crater torn open by a nuclear bomb, an atrocious explosion, a vortex of violence and energy.”
There is nothing to suggest the presence of a “snake coming out of Jesus’ head” in the statue as claimed in the post; the artist himself explained that it shows Jesus among destroyed olive trees atop a crater.
However, it would not be unusual to find works featuring snakes in the Vatican or across the Christian world – there are even several depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Usually, they are used to represent evil, since the earliest story from the Judeo-Christian faiths is about Adam and Eve’s temptation to sin by a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
And what about the supposed snake-shaped buildings? The Paul VI Audience Hall was said by some social media users to resemble the head of a snake due to its round eye-like windows and sloping angles inside and out, while the uploader we highlighted earlier also said the aerial view of St Peter’s Basilica and the round piazza outside it resembled a ‘pregnant snake’.
These theories are vague and have no archaeological or art history evidence to back them up. The image of the interior of the hall that frequently accompanies this claim appears to have been taken head-on with a wide-angle or fish-eye lens, and the eye-shaped windows and sloping ceiling lines are not as dramatic in other press photos of the hall.
Meanwhile, this aerial view of St Peter’s Basilica and the adjoining square via Google Earth shows how the outdoor area really looks – without the side-by-side snake reference pictures or labelling.
St Peter’s Square was designed years after the basilica that stands at its top was consecrated. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was tasked with creating a forecourt that could allow the greatest number of people to see the pope giving his blessing from a number of angles, according to literature cited in the Wikipedia page for the plaza.
RATING
The psychological phenomenon where people perceive familiar patterns in random objects is known as Pareidolia. Similarly, Apophenia is when connections are perceived between unrelated or random things. Patterns involving symbols, faces, animals or apparently significant numbers are frequently seen in conspiracy theories, used to ‘prove’ a claim without any real evidence.
Many people who believe in conspiracy theories already know that their version of a story doesn’t line up with the official account; their very belief is that the truth is being covered up.
Therefore, it’s not always possible to debunk a claim that is enmeshed in a wide-reaching and long-running conspiracy theory.
However, given the recurring themes of the most common conspiracy theories over recent decades, it’s useful to be aware of them and how they’re linked, however tenuously. It could provide valuable context clues for the next time similar claims are circulated.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Are we just supposed to pretend the Vatican having a snake coming out of Jesus’ head surrounded by demons within a building resembling a snake from the inside and out, ISN’T satanic? [Accessed 22 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Dear FBI, CIA, NIH, WHO, CDC, DHS, CNN, DNC, RNC, FJB & all other 3 letter alphabet clown agencies, We, The Conspiracy Theorists, are tired. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: With the democrat party being controlled by satan worshipping child trafficking cannibalistic pedophiles, you’d think they’d learn that lockdowns have a history of backfiring on them. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Vatican is POPE’S SATANIC THEATER FOR DEMONS. Normal people will see images below are satanic. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: The popes are under a cult called Jesuits. This a History roadmap of Illuminati, Masons, Vatican and many things… [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Structurae (2022). Papal Audience Hall (Vatican City, 1971) [online] Structurae. [Accessed 22 Apr. 2025].
USCCB. (2023). Over the pope’s shoulder: An ‘explosion’ of spirituality in bronze. [online] [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Google.com. (2016). Schenectady Gazette – Google News Archive Search. [online] [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. (2014). The snake. [online] [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Steck, E. and Kaczynski, A. (2021). Marjorie Taylor Greene’s history of dangerous conspiracy theories and comments. [online] CNN. [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Wikipedia.org (2004). St. Peter’s Square. [online] [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Stefano Costantino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images (2025). A general view of the Paul VI Audience Hall during the Pope Francisí… [online] Getty Images. [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images (2024). A general view shows the Second Session of the 16th Ordinary General… [online] Getty Images. [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].