Newsreader kills off the Pope in epic Christmas Day fail

Pope Francis looks at the crowd after delivering the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. Photo / AP

A British newsreader had a Christmas Day to forget after a live blunder saw her announce the death of Pope Francis when sharing news of his annual Christmas address.

The ITV newsreader was reporting on the annual Urby et Urby et Orbin homily during a live broadcast when she mistakenly killed off the Pontiff.

She told viewers: "The Pope's festive address focused on his prayers for the pandemic to come to an end. He said vaccines should be made available to those most in need.

"His death was announced…"

Oops.

She immediately caught her mistake and corrected herself, adding: "'Excuse me."

ITV just announced the death of The Pope by accident pic.twitter.com/GS5RNCdm5b

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) December 25, 2021

The mistake was noticed and viewers quickly took to social media to share the error widely.

One viewer took the mistake as evidence of conspiracy and asked: "What happened to the pope and what do ITV news know?"

"That awkward moment when you accidentally report the death of the #pope on #itv. Guessing they have a preprepared script and the newsreader read on to that by mistake?'" another wrote.

Pope Francis, who is absolutely still here in spirit and flesh, used his annual Christmas address to ask for peace and equity in health care in the face of the pandemic.

"Grant health to the infirm and inspire all men and women of good will to seek the best ways possible to overcome the current health crisis and its effects," he said.

"Open hearts to ensure that necessary medical care – and vaccines in particular – are provided to those peoples who need them most."