Vatican Says They Didn't Hit Like Button On Instagram Model's Content, Fires Back At Instagram

The fun story of the Pope's Instagram account liking an Instagram model's photo continues to roll on. Now the Vatican is involved in the investigation, and officials have turned the tables on Instagram and want answers from the social media network. The big news this morning is that the Vatican IS NOT denying the Pope's official account tapped Natalia Garibotto's schoolgirl photo.

What we're seeing out of the Vatican is a strategy you don't see very often in these social media cases. They're not even saying the Pope's account was hacked. The independent city-state is implying that there's something fishy going on here from Instagram's side of things.

"We can exclude that the 'like' came from the Holy See, and it has turned to Instagram for explanations," a Vatican spokesperson told the Guardian.

Just so we're clear, the Holy See is another way of saying the Vatican.

Notice the Vatican didn't just use the "I (the Pope) WAS HACKED." No, this is about to go deeper. The Vatican seems to want to know if this was an inside job. Did someone at Instagram set up the Pope and put the Holy Father in a pickle? That's where this case stands.

Garibotto has gone about her business and should teach a class on how to handle the Pope liking her work. “My mum may hate my ass pics, but the Pope be double-tapping,” the Brazilian told Barstool Sports. “At least I’m going to heaven,” she added.

The 27-year-old Instagram star is now up to 2.4 million followers and starting to reflect on this moment in her life.

"I pray to God every night, I thank him along with my prayers, Natalia wrote on Twitter. "He listens. I want to spread this, I learned it as a child. You may not believe in a God, but you must believe in an energy. A force that moves you forward. A will to want to see another day. Give thanks each day."