Video of Pope’s ‘final public address’ is actually from 2023

A video which is being shared alongside claims it shows Pope Francis’s final public address before his death on Easter Monday actually dates from 2023.

The clip has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram where one post has gained over 45,000 and has text over the video saying: “Pope Francis used his last public address to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.”

It’s true that in his last public address, made on Easter Sunday at the Vatican's St Peter's Square, Pope Francis’s words (which were read by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of liturgical ceremonies) talked about Gaza and advocated for a ceasefire.

The Pope was seen in a wheelchair on Easter Sunday, after being discharged from hospital in March after five weeks of treatment for an infection that led to double pneumonia.

The speech, as released by the Vatican, said: “I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. The growing climate of anti-Semitism throughout the world is worrisome. 

“Yet at the same time, I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.

“I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!”

However, the video circulating on social media, in which Pope Francis—standing and delivering the speech himself—says that “unarmed civilians are subjected to bombings and shootings” in Gaza, was not his final address before his death on 21 April.

The video shows a speech he delivered to St Peter’s Square in December 2023, although some English translations of his speech differ very slightly in their wording. The Vatican’s official translation says he said in the clip: “I continue to receive very serious and sad news about Gaza. Unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and shootings. And this happened even within the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, people who are sick and have disabilities, sisters. 

“A mother and her daughter, Mrs Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Kamal Anton, were killed, and other people wounded by snipers as they were going to the bathroom. The house of the Sisters of Mother Teresa was damaged and their generator was hit. Some say: ‘this is terrorism and war’. Yes, it is war, it is terrorism. This is why Scripture says that ‘God makes wars cease... he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear’. Let us pray to the Lord for peace.”

Pope Francis appealed for peace in Gaza in his 2024 Sunday address, and frequently spoke to the only remaining Catholic church in Gaza City in nightly calls. According to excerpts of a book based on interviews with him released in 2024, he said what was happening in Gaza should be “carefully investigated” to see whether it met the international definition of a genocide.

He died of a stroke and subsequent heart failure on 21 April, the Vatican confirmed in a statement.

We have previously fact checked a number of misleading claims about Pope Francis. Before sharing content that you see on social media, it’s important to consider whether what you are seeing is accurate. Our Full Fact toolkit has tips to help you navigate and identify bad information online.