This is the true story behind the viral picture of the Pope and a girl with Down's syndrome

An image of the Pope holding the hand of a young girl with Down's syndrome during a papal audience has been shared on Twitter, under false pretences.

The image was taken during an official audience of Special Olympics athletes with the Pope in October 2017.

Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver delivered a speech, calling for an inclusion revolution for athletes with special needs.

The young girl pictured, four-year-old Gemma Pompili from Rome, was invited to present Pope Francis with a pair of red Special Olympics-branded sports shoes.

She is part of the Italian Special Olympics Young Athletes programme and was subsequently invited to site beside the Pope for the duration of the event.

The image has been recently shared, repurposed as an anecdote to have occurred this week. The false anecdote goes that she went towards the Pope, that security guards stepped in, and the Pope intervened to invite her to sit next to him.

Among the first instances of the false story was a reddit post in the r/pics subreddit.

The image was tweeted by a number of verified accounts, lending to the belief it has indeed occurred.

In short – don't believe every anecdote on reddit and Twitter.

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