A few weeks ago, a picture of a nun from the Catholic church was widely shared and distributed on the internet with people allegedly saying that she was pregnant.
The nun seen in the viral photo was standing with other people while her belly is exposed in front, which alleges that she was pregnant. They immediately started making jokes about the photo on the internet.
The joke itself came from the concept that nuns and priests of the Catholic Church should not engage in any sexual activities because when they enter the service they take an oath of faith to give their bodies to serve God and not to engage in acts of love.
It was further revealed that the picture is of a monk serving in a catholic church in Cameroon.
The Catholic Church in the Central African nation has however come out openly and clarified the photo while sympathizing with those who said the nun was pregnant.
According to a statement published on the Facebook page of the diocese of the capital city of Yaounde, the nun is not pregnant as people were saying but she is suffering from a condition that caused her stomach to swell.
The church asked God to forgive all those who spread mocking messages that the nun is pregnant because they used their networks to gain fame by tarnishing the name of the Servant of God.
"When immorality and perversity invade the world, there is no room left for sarcasm and infected speech... To all of us who are shocked by the disrespectful posts about that sister, may God give you the strength to stand up and heal that sister," the Diocese wrote.
Netizens sympathized with the nun and crushed those who use her photo to seek fame on the internet, saying that it is a shame to see a pregnant nun.
"True, this person is sick, but people are looking for messages with the will to continue mocking him. May God have mercy on them and let us all join together to pray for this monk's recovery," Larentine Atangwa said.