Skip to main content

PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Religion & belief fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about religion & belief. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,371 published reviews in this topic

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaReligion & belief

තපෝවනයේ රතන ස්වාමින්වහන්සේගේ නමින් සමාජ ජාලාවල පළවන ව්‍යාජ සහ නොමගයවන සුලු සටහන්!

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined posts and comments circulating on social media as statements by Tapowanaye Rathana Thera, the head of Minipura Amashanthi Tapovanaya. It reports that some posts came from a Facebook account recently created in his name, while other posts were edited versions of material taken from pages associated with the monastery and the monk. The article’s conclusion is that fabricated accounts were publishing statements and posts under his name, rather than that the disputed posts were authentic statements by him. (“සමාජ ජාලා සටහන් තපෝවනයේ රතන ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේ විසින් සිදුකරන ලද ප්‍රකාශ යයි පවසමින් සමාජ ජාලා සටහන් කිහිපයක් පැතිර ගියේ මෙලෙසින්.”; “රතන ස්වාමින්වහන්සේගේ නමින් මෑතකදී සාදන ලද ෆේස්බුක් ගිණුමක් මගින් මෙවැනි සටහන් මෙන්ම උන්වහන්සේගේ නමින් අමාශාන්ති තපෝවනය මගින් පවත්වාගෙන යන ෆේස්බුක් පිටුවේ සහ අමාශාන්ති තපෝවනයේ ෆේස්බුක් පිටුවේ ඇති පෝස්ටු ගෙන ඒවා සංස්කරණය කර සමාජ ජාලා හරහා බෙදාහැර තිබෙන අයුරු දක්නට ලැබුණා.”) To check attribution, the publisher says it contacted Rathana Thera. According to the article, he denied posting Facebook comments and said he communicated his views through two identified monastery-related Facebook pages, including posts, articles and videos. He also said that other Facebook pages using his name were fake. The review further reports that he had complained to police and taken legal steps over accounts making defamatory statements in his name. These findings address whether the posts were genuinely his; the excerpt does not independently establish who created the accounts or edited the posts. (“உன்வහන්සේ පැවසුවේ තමන් ෆේස්බුක් ඔස්සේ කොමෙන්ට්ස් පලකිරීමට කිසි ලෙසකින් කටයුතු නොකරන බවයි.”; “උන්වහන්සේ පැවසූ එම ෆේස්බුක් පිටු දෙකට පිවිසිය හැකියි මෙතනින් සහ මෙතනින්. එමෙන්ම ඉහත අප සදහන් කල ෆේස්බුක් ගිණුම් වලට අමතරව තම නම භාවිතා කර සාදා ඇති සියලු ෆේස්බුක් පිටු ව්‍යාජ ඒවා බවත් උන්වහන්සේ පැවසුවා.”; “මේ ආකාරයෙන් සිය නමින් ව්‍යාජ ගිණුම් සාදමින් අපහාසාත්මකව කරුණු දක්වන පිරිස් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මේ වන විටත් පොලිසියට පැමිණිලි කර නීතිමය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගෙන ඇති බවයි.”)

El Detector / Univision NoticiasReligion & belief

La ordenación de Bingo Allison, sacerdote no binario, contó con “la ayuda” del papa Francisco.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns Bingo Allison’s ordination and alleges that Pope Francis helped with it. The review identifies Allison as a priest of the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, rather than the Roman Catholic Church. It reports that the Diocese of Liverpool confirmed Allison served in the West Derby deanery and that his ordination had no connection to the pope. The review’s decisive evidence is a response from Stuart Haynes, the diocese’s assistant secretary and director of communications. As quoted in the article, Haynes said the matter belonged to the Church of England, over which the pope had no jurisdiction, and that he was not involved. The review says this response directly contradicted the circulating claim that Allison’s investiture took place with the pope’s help. The article also places the event in time: it says Allison was ordained on September 25, 2020, in a 3 p.m. local service, and notes that the diocese’s website linked to a video of the service. It reports that St. Margaret of Antioch Parish Church posted photographs of the ordination on September 28, 2020. Thus, the reported ordination was in 2020, not an event from early 2023. The review’s conclusion rests on the diocese’s account of papal non-involvement and the distinction between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Islamic flag with prophet’s name appeared in the sky somewhere in Kashmir

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video presented as showing an Islamic flag with Prophet Muhammad’s name appearing in the sky in Kashmir. FACTLY’s review concludes that the video was edited, rather than evidence of a real event, and says no such incident was reported in Kashmir. Its stated verdict is based on evidence that the flag and birds were inserted into the footage. The review describes two specific checks. First, it observed that the birds and flag appear abruptly in the video, which it treated as an indication that those visuals had been added. It then searched YouTube for matching imagery and found greenscreen clips corresponding to the birds and the waving Islamic flag shown in the viral video. The review also reports that journalists from Kashmir called the video fake and urged people not to share misinformation. Taken together, the described visual inspection, matching source clips, and reported local journalists’ response support the review’s conclusion that the video does not establish that the claimed event occurred.

Fact CrescendoReligion & belief

माननीय प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने हिंदू रीति रिवाज के अनुसार अपनी मां के लिए लिए मुंडन करवाया है; धन्य है ये कर्मयोगी PM Modiji माता जी हीराबा को भावभीनी श्रद्धांजलि

Publisher’s rating: Altered

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaReligion & belief

බෞද්ධාගම ලෝකයේ හොඳම ආගම බවට තේරී පත්වුණා ද ?

Publisher’s rating: Explainer

The claim arose after a headline in Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina said Buddhism had won an award as the world’s best religion. The original review says the story circulated on social media too. Divaina’s account attributed the selection to a Geneva-based religious organization and said 200 religious leaders had unanimously decided in Buddhism’s favor, with leaders from 38 religions voting. These details describe what the newspaper reported; the review did not establish that an award or vote had actually taken place. To check the claim, the publisher searched for evidence of a recent or historical selection and for international media coverage. It says it found no such recent reporting, but did find blog posts dating from 2009 that described an award supposedly given by ICARUS, expanded as the International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality. The review also reports that some critical blog posts from 2009 called the story fabricated and said no such organization existed. The review then checked two key parts of the newspaper’s account: whether the Geneva Tribune had reported the award, and whether ICARUS could be verified as a real organization. It says its search found no report of the award in the Geneva Tribune and no evidence that ICARUS existed: it found no coverage by international media, organizational website, or email address. The article says it emailed the newspaper and that it would update the review if a response arrived; the supplied text gives no subsequent response. On the evidence described in this review, the award claim is unsupported: its cited newspaper account was not corroborated by the named newspaper or by evidence confirming the organization. The excerpt does not establish that every detail of the alleged selection was independently disproved; it explains why the publisher could not substantiate the story.

FACTLYReligion & belief

Visuals of Bhadrakali idol in Telangana closing its eyes during abhishekam with turmeric water

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video said to show the Bhadrakali idol in Warangal, Telangana, closing its eyes during an abhishekam with turmeric water. FACTLY reports identifying the idol at the Bhadrakali Temple in Warangal through reverse image search, then examining footage of abhishekam using different substances on different occasions. Its account says the eyes remain visible when water, milk, or ghee is poured, but are obscured when thick turmeric or kumkum water is used. The review attributes the apparent change to the consistency of those liquids: they form a layer over the idol’s eyes, making them look closed. It says that pouring water removes the layer and the eyes appear normal again. Thus, the footage does show the eyes becoming obscured during thick-liquid abhishekam, but the account presents this as a visible effect of the liquid coating the idol—not as the goddess closing her eyes. The investigation’s described evidence is visual comparison of the idol under different liquids, alongside reverse image search to identify the temple. The excerpt does not provide dates for the individual videos or further details about how they were sourced, so those details cannot be established from the supplied material.