The Vatican is investigating how the Instagram account of Pope Francis "liked" a photograph of Brazilian model Natalia Garibotto in a short school-uniform skirt and lingerie.

Garibotto joked she's "going to heaven" after the "like" from Francis' verified account, Franciscus, which was spotted Nov. 13 and was "unliked" the following day, the Catholic News Agency said.

The bikini model's photo was captioned with an emoji of a devil's horn along with the suggestive line: "I can teach you a thing or two."

People on social media are going bonkers after the papal like. Below are some of their Twitter comments: "Pope Francis is horny as hell" - Barstool Sports, "That's my kind of Pope" - Uncle Chuy, "God created dat a*s. Just appreciating the Lord's work, as he should" - Eric Graehler and "He's just showing support to the Catholic School she obviously attends" - Chris Curran.

The "like" didn't come from the Holy See, where a team manages the official papal social media accounts, a Vatican representative told The Guardian.

The Holy See is seeking an explanation from Instagram, the representative said. Facebook, Instagram's parent company, declined to comment.

Officials from the Vatican want to know how the embarrassment happened. There is speculation someone in the Holy See's communications department may have inadvertently pressed the "like" button while checking out the sexy model's large gallery of photos.

Pope Francis has a large fan base on social media. His official Instagram account has 7.5 million followers.

On Twitter, Francis has nearly 19 million followers. In 2017, the pope was the most popular world leader on the social media app.