Originally published at crisis magazine
Jesus taught in synagogues and preached in fields. He said, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), sending His followers to lead sacrificial, charitable lives, with many paying the ultimate cost of martyrdom. But now, in the age of online Christendom, there’s a new kind of preacher on the scene: the Catholic social media influencer.
Boasting tens of thousands of followers online, Catholic influencers not only preach the Faith, they sell it too. “It’s rare to find an influencer not seeking profit. Everything they promote seems to cost money,” laments Christy Winn, a Catholic young adult from Kentucky. As thousands of Millennial and Gen-Z women sign up to be “followers,” they also end up paying a cost, but not one that will turn them into instant saints.
Most of the women I spoke to for this article asked to remain anonymous, with one even expressing her fear of the influencers’ “power.” I reached out to each influencer mentioned, but none responded. This article isn’t meant to critique any influencers’ intentions, but rather to explore how influencer culture affects us, the followers, in the digital age.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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