The article deals with the attitude of the Catholic Church in Italy toward the “fake news” phenomenon in the mass media of the COVID and post-COVID world. Catholic hierarchs and Pope Francis personally condemned the system promoting fakes on the Web, their creators and consumers ‒ conscious or unconscious “transponders” of lies. The Church and the Catholic media counter fake messages via such important tools as “positive” journalism, fact checking sites, training users in media literacy, critical thinking. At the same time, the actual legalization of “post-truth” in social networks as a form of alternative reality is a wake-up call. The crisis of confidence in authorities, official media, relativity of key concepts and ethical norms became a reality. “Post-truth” society as one of the manifestations of digital mentality is a serious challenge for the Catholic Church. Acts of Communication in the digital environment, study of the laws regulating relationships development on digital platforms open up wide opportunities for evangelism, missionary work, mediation at the micro and macro levels, as well as building socially oriented relations in the world of “post-truth”.
