Did Pope Leo XIV force all women, e-girls and podcasters to do penance for their awful behavior? Fact Check
Claim : Pope Leo XIV forces all “females”, E girls and podcasters to repent for their awful behaviour. .
Conclusion : False. Pope Leo XIV did not force anyone as claimed. It is a part of an oldest celebration ‘Festa della Vara di Fiumedinisi’ in Sicily.
Rating : Totally False 
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A viral X post by verified user @Catholicizm1, dated August 13, 2025, claimed that “Pope Leo forces all female, E girls and podcasters to do penance for their awful behavior,” accompanied by a video showing women crawling on their knees in a procession.
View the post below –
Pope Leo forces all female, E girls and podcasters to do penance for their awful behavior. The church is healing, pic.twitter.com/tANFrSgZQk
— Anthony (@Catholicizm1) August 13, 2025
The post garnered over 3,900 likes and 273,900 views, sparking debate and shares. The video depicts a long line of primarily young women and girls moving slowly on their knees holding lit candles, with onlookers filming from balconies.
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and discovered that it is totally false. This claim is entirely fabricated, there has been no order by the Pope and the video is taken from a traditional Catholic festival.
We first conducted a web search, including Vatican-related news, Pope Leo XIV’s official statement.However we found no evidence of any papal decree on this matter and keyword phrases like “Pope Leo XIV decree e-girls podcasters penance” returned no related results.
We then conducted a reverse image search from various keyframes and learned that the footage originates from the Festa della Vara in Fiumedinisi, a small village in Sicily’s Messina province. This was held on 10-11 August 2025, honouring the assumption of Mary in which women particularly participate.
An instagram user ‘sacredchad’ shared the video on their page with a caption explaining the Feast of the Vara in Fiumedinisi, Sicily. View the reel here and a screenshot of it bel0w –
View this post on Instagram
Another verified X user ‘sumnjam’ had shared the same video with the caption : Among the oldest celebrations in #Sicily, the Festa della Vara di Fiumedinisi. It includes the: “the journey on knees.” View the post here.
🇮🇹Among the oldest celebrations in #Sicily, the Festa della Vara di Fiumedinisi.
It includes the: “the journey on knees.” pic.twitter.com/KNNDk3d3ZE
— Medan (@sumnjam) August 14, 2025
Other videos of the celebration can be viewed here, here and here
Moreover, the user who has made this claim has provided no evidence whatsoever. On the contrary, he has quoted a video shared from a user (view) whose caption clearly reads : “The Saturday before the great Festa Ranni, the faithful advance slowly, knees to the ground, from the San Pietro church to the Chiesa Madre.”
Ici, la foi avance… sur les genoux ✨️
Parmi les plus anciennes manifestations de Sicile, la Festa della Vara di Fiumedinisi plonge ses racines dans le XVIIᵉ siècle, héritière de la domination espagnole et imprégnée de cette ferveur religieuse qui traverse le temps.
Les… pic.twitter.com/PxRGTeGpF7
— Didier (@LetItShine69) August 11, 2025
Thus, the claim is totally false and no such order was issued by Pope Leo. The participation is voluntary and no credible news outlets report on any such mandate.
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