I think I was vaguely aware of it but it didn’t come to mind here. I was wrong to post the article without reading the whole thing first because it does mention sign language. It was written, though, in such a style that I realize now was meant to play off the controversial nature of the Pope, It seemed to me the story was reporting that the Pope was a heavy metal fan or they didn’t know why he made that sign, but actually it was a “trick article.” I’m glad to know now, though, for sure about the sign language. I’ve seen claims through the years that one person or another in a photograph is making the devil’s sign, but I’ll look for the thumb placement now. And one other thing about all this is that maybe it’s just me but I don’t really care for the looks of the sign and how close it is to the devil’s sign. The Wikipedia article on it notes the siimilarity. These talk about its possible origins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILY_sign
https://fookembug.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/emo-witchzak-invented-i-love-you-handshape-did-he/
I agree with you totally about the atmosphere generated around that hand sign. It has a history of associated with witchcraft - that can be seen in descriptions published in books from decades ago. It is not a good look, IMO.