A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows Paris church bells ringing to celebrate the Nov. 7 announcement that President-elect Joe Biden won the election.

Verdict: False

The bells appear to be automatically-programmed calls to evening Mass. They had nothing to do with Biden’s election, according to a statement from the Diocese of Nanterre.

Fact Check:

The video shows a night-time panorama of the Parisian skyline in which numerous bells throughout the city can be heard ringing. The caption reads, “Church Bells Ringing Across my beloved Paris in Celebration of the new President of the United States, Joe Biden!”

The Associated Press called the 2020 presidential election for the former vice president on Nov. 7 after the outlet declared him the winner in Pennsylvania. While people did take to the streets to celebrate, the video does not show Paris church bells ringing in celebration of Biden’s election. (RELATED: Does This Video Show French Police Throwing Handcuffs On The Ground To Protest Coronavirus Restrictions?)

Rather, they appear to have been automatic bells calling the faithful to prayer, according to a statement from the Diocese of Nanterre, a Paris suburb. The statement, roughly translated, indicates that some churches’ bells in that diocese are “automatically programmed” to ring every Saturday around 5:45 p.m. local time for evening Mass, despite most religious services being recently banned by the French government as part of coronavirus mitigation measures.

“This is the case of the bells of the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church in Meudon, which can be seen and heard in a video shared on social networks by a resident of the city,” the statement says. “Other reasons have been mentioned by some, but the diocese of Nanterre confirms with this message the exact reason for this flight of bells.”

When reached for comment, the Diocese of Paris directed the Daily Caller News Foundation to the statement from the Diocese of Nanterre. France 24 previously debunked the claim, tweeting, “We also verified with the @dioceseparis, no instructions were given to ring bells for #Elections2020 or for a tribute following the #Nice attack.”

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