Did Pope say gun owners can’t call themselves Christian anymore? Fact Check

An article is spreading rapidly across social media that claims Pope Francis claimed that “gun owners can’t call themselves Christian” anymore.

The article was published by the website NeonNettle.com and claims that Pope said “on Sunday” that those who sell or own firearms are “hypocrites”. The article reads in part –

Pope Francis: Gun Owners ‘Can’t Call Themselves Christian’ Anymore Head of Catholic Church says those who own weapons are ‘hypocrites,’ not Christians
As pressure mounts to tear up the US Constitution once and for all, Pope Francis has added to the sentiment by declaring that gun owners can no longer call themselves Christian.Pope Francis continued his week of anti-gun comments on Sunday by saying that those who manufacture, sell or own firearms are “hypocrites,” and not Christians.The head of the Catholic Church said when people claim to follow the teachings of Christ but also support gun ownership, it “leads to a bit of distrust.”Francis’s criticism wasn’t limited to just owners, however, as also called out those who support citizens’ rights to bear arms, adding:

However the article is largely fake, taking years old quotes from the Pope and placing them wildly out of context.

The quotes mentioned in the NeonNettle.com article were not uttered during Sunday this week, rather they were taken from a speech by the Pope almost three years prior to the date of the article, in 2015.

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Additionally, the speech from the Pope was in the context of international warfare, and had nothing to do with the on-going controversy of civilian gun ownership across the United States, as directly implied in the NeonNettle article.

In the speech, the Pope was discussing those who manufacture and sell arms that help supply and continue international conflicts, and during his speech had mentioned warfare in Africa and the Middle East. The Pope has claimed that those who manufacture and sell arms to support such conflicts while calling themselves Christians created mistrust.

None of the Pope’s comments had been directed at civilian gun owners. An except from the relevant part of the 2015 speech is below –

It makes me think one thing: people, leaders, entrepreneurs who call themselves Christians, and manufacture arms! This gives rise to some mistrust: they call themselves Christians! “No, no, Father, I don’t manufacture them, no, no…. I only have my savings, my investments in arms factories”. Ah! And why? “Because the interest is somewhat higher…”. And being two-faced is common currency today: saying something and doing another. Hypocrisy….
…There is that hypocrisy of speaking of peace and producing arms, and even selling arms to this one who is at war with that one, and to that one who is at war with this one!

NeonNettle.com is a fake news website and produces almost exclusively articles that are designed to mislead readers. Its articles range from misleading to outright false. This article about the Pope ranks around somewhere in between.