A tweet issued by Pope Leo has been met with humor online.
On Wednesday, the Pope encouraged people to explore writing fiction.
“Dear writers, we need your imagination, your narrative creativity and your lively thinking. We need these to create spaces of freedom and authenticity, within which divine grace can make the promise of consolation and peace resound.”
Dear writers, we need your imagination, your narrative creativity and your lively thinking. We need these to create spaces of freedom and authenticity, within which divine grace can make the promise of consolation and peace resound. https://t.co/FEmCrdQ392
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) June 24, 2026
How about we take this to the next level?
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“An act of truth, of revelation”
The Pope included a link to a Vatican news story, which added context to the tweet.
Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the Vatican Publishing House’s founding. The occasion was marked by a select handful of award-winning authors visiting the Vatican. They too part in a discussion on the power of the written word.
In a speech to the assembled writers, the Pope encouraged people to write to express themselves.
“Writing, as you know, is an act of truth, of revelation, for it reveals who we are, what we believe and hope for, the world we strive toward and the future of which we dream,” the pope said. “In this pursuit of truth, we sense that truth is subtle, revealing itself to us in our inner dialogue with God and in our open and respectful dialogue with our neighbors.”
He also said that reading allows people to see life through the experiences of others.
“When you write stories and develop your characters, you identify with them; you grasp their points of view, their emotions, their feelings, their attitudes. This is the great training ground of humanity that you allow your readers to experience, because, in a sense, readers ‘live’ many lives in addition to their own. This helps us to discover different perspectives, to avoid treating our own views as absolute and to piece together, as in a mosaic, the outline of that truth which always transcends us.
Online reaction
Of course, online, many didn’t read the full context. They just took it as encouragement to pursue their literary passions… wherever they might lead.
The pope wants you
to write smutty fanfic from the heart https://t.co/F9Ycql449q
— gas station b-ner pill
(@sapphyrnidae95) June 24, 2026
Thank you pope Leo i will go write more gay fanfiction in His glory https://t.co/BLyChiKhvv
— pure-hearted lesbian p-rvert (@grapefruitism) June 24, 2026
Thank you Leo, I’m dedicating this fanfic to you
— Cₐₗᵢ ₚᵢgₑₒₙ (@cali__pigeon) June 24, 2026
Don’t worry, Pope. I’m on it! pic.twitter.com/yyIX1SxPEZ
— Charlie McFarland (@Charlie_Kilo93) June 24, 2026
New level of Catholic guilt unlocked: the pope wants to know why you haven’t finished that draft yet. https://t.co/JNTUHLbYeh
— Shane (@sbliss89) June 24, 2026
now the Pope is hassling me for my late draft https://t.co/aTcOCVtL1G
— Neil Renic (@NC_Renic) June 24, 2026
Even the pope wants you to finish that screenplay https://t.co/EBcYswiM5J
— gianmarco (@GianmarcoSoresi) June 24, 2026
Several took the message as a reconfirmation of the Pope’s wariness of artificial intelligence. Last month, he sent a letter to bishops warning of the pitfalls of AI.
@Pontifex pic.twitter.com/kpfkUctKDg
— Dilophosaur sniper
(@Mausdilo) June 25, 2026
Among those to attend yesterday’s meeting with the Pope were Nobel Prize laureate Jon Fosse, Pulitzer Prize winners Elizabeth Strout and Marilynne Robinson, and Irish author Colum McCann.
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