Diocese says attack on French priest was not because of his faith or to do with recent unrest
What was claimed
An 80-year-old French priest, Father Francis Pelle, was stripped, beaten and left fighting for his life after an attempted lynching by Islamic race rioters in Saint-Étienne.
Our verdict
According to the Diocese of Saint-Étienne, priest Father Francis Palle was attacked and robbed, but did not lose consciousness. The diocese said the attack did not appear to be linked to him being a priest and that it “did not take place within the framework of the violent events of recent days”.
A tweet that has been shared more than 6,500 times claims: “French priest Father Francis Pelle was stripped, beaten and left fighting for his life after an attempted lynching by Islamic race rioters last night in Saint Etienne”.
“The 80 year old priest was one of many Catholics targeted as the country slips into complete anarchy”.
This is false. The Diocese of the French city of Saint-Étienne has said that although a priest, Father Francis Palle, was attacked and robbed on 29 June, it did not appear to be because he was a priest or related to recent protest and rioting in France after a police officer fatally shot 17-year-old Nahel M.
The posts on social media appear to have spelt his surname incorrectly.
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Translated by Google, a press release from the Diocese says: “Father Francis Palle, aged 79, was the victim of an attack during which he was knocked down and beaten. His attackers stole his money and his cell phone. Father Francis Palle affirms that he never lost consciousness.
“Supported by the firefighters, he remained under observation for a few hours in the hospital. He came out before midnight, naturally shocked, with bruises. Father Francis Palle, however, began to resume his activities the next day.
“The attack on Father Palle does not appear to be linked to his condition as a religious priest and it did not take place within the framework of the violent events of recent days.”
In a Facebook post, the Diocese said that “rumours and incorrect information are circulating on social networks”.
The image that appears in the posts appears to be a screenshot of a video of Father Francis Palle.
Events like the unrest in France are often the breeding ground for misinformation, including misleading images and videos. We’ve seen falsely labelled content including videos claiming to show that zoo animals have been let loose in Paris by protestors and a photo of a small fire beneath the Eiffel Tower, taken during the 2016 European Championship final claiming to show the situation “right now”. We have guides here on how to check what you’re seeing is genuine.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because the Saint-Étienne diocese says although a priest was attacked and robbed, it did not appear to be linked to him being a priest or related to the recent unrest in France.
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