Traditionally when a pope dies, the camerlengo (or chamberlain) verifies his death by tapping him on the head three times with a silver hammer. What usually does not happen is a Vatican official reveals the pope’s death to the public via Twitter. In March, a fake account claiming to represent Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone broke the false news about Pope Benedict XVI, tweeting in Italian “The Holy Father unexpectedly passed away this afternoon. We announce this with grief and consternation.” A Vatican spokesperson later called the reports “baseless.”