Originally published at National Catholic Register
The prayer app Hallow’s decision last Advent to partner with Irish actor Liam Neeson, an outspoken pro-abortion activist, drew condemnation from several prominent Catholics.
The decision is one that Hallow CEO Alex Jones now says he would like to have back.
“There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve worked through and learned over the last couple of years about all the ways that we have to be careful in terms of how we work,” Jones told the Register regarding the Neeson controversy. “There’s the sin of scandal. There’s material cooperation with evil. There’s a bunch of stuff that we learned and are growing in understanding.”
Jones’ comments signify a reversal from statements he made in the immediate wake of the controversy. In a statement to Catholic News Agency in November 2023, Jones defended his decision, citing the company’s need to work with “non-traditional partners and people from different backgrounds” to fulfill its mission of reaching fallen-away Catholics. He maintained that Hallow was “proudly pro-life.”
In a subsequent statement to the Register, Jones said, “We respectfully disagree with those who claim that working with an actor who has done something in the past that disagrees with Church teaching, regardless of the details
