Vatican investigating racy Instagram 'like' by pope account, model gives cheeky reaction

Pope Francis has been in the eye of a social media storm after an Instagram user spotted that his official account had liked a racy photo of bikini model Natalia Garibotto.

An user named Barstool Sports, spotted the like and shared a screen shot showing the Pope’s Instagram name in the likes section of her photo. 

The photo shows Brazilian model Garibotto wearing a racy outfit that resembles a school uniform along with the caption, 'I can teach you a thing or two,' and a happy devil emoji. 

The exact time of the 'like' is unclear, but it was visible and reported by news outlets on November 13.

The bikini model claims that the pontiff’s verified Instagram account ‘Franciscus’ was among the 133,000 that ‘liked’ her photo.

Knowing about pontiff’s verified Instagram account liking her photo, 27- year-old model Garibotto tweeted, 'At least I'm going to heaven' and 'Brb on my way to the Vatican', along with a prayer emoji.

Neither Garibotto nor Pope Francis’ official account follow each other on Instagram. Pope Francis’s Instagram account does not follow any other accounts. 

However, it’s not clear who actually liked the picture as the Pope’s social media pages are reportedly managed by a team of staffers.

After the social media uproar, the photograph was unliked from the official page on November 14.

The Vatican is now investigating into the matter of the usage of the papal Instagram account for liking the photo of the model.

Pope Francis has always been attributed as 'liberal' since he succeeded, Benedict XVI, who was an old-school Catholic, a German intellectual with high regard for tradition. 

When Pope Francis took over, he rejected living in the apostolic palace and set up a council of advisers to rival the authority of Vatican officials.

He visited refugees and washed the feet of prisoners during services in a reminder of Christ’s focus on the poorest and lowliest.