Author Topic: Digital Missionaries earn Vatican's Blessing. (Read 16242 times)

Telling · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2026, 02:27:29 PM »

"You don't want the faith to become merchandise," she said. "If any of us are influencing for anything, it's to influence people to know Jesus."

Still, digital missionaries have to navigate a balance between humility and vanity, aiming to share their faith widely without being tempted by the lust for followers or likes.
"There's always discernment anytime you post a video," McGrady said. "Am I posting this because I'm trying to make a sale or because I want to go viral? Or am I posting this because it's informative? ... It's about being truthful and good rather than just grifting my way through clicks and likes to earn a quick buck."
Here's how several Catholic content creators approach their missions.
Laura Kelly Fanucci (Instagram: @thismessygrace)
Laura Kelly Fanucci's deeply personal Instagram account probes grief, suffering and the struggle to live with faith and hope, topics the Twin Cities, Minnesota-area author has addressed in books and in her longtime blog. Nine years ago, she and her husband had twin daughters who died after being born prematurely, and in 2023, Fanucci was diagnosed with cancer.
"I always joke that I wish my brand was happiness and everything going well, but I write a lot about the harder parts of life," said Fanucci, 44, who is now cancer-free. "I was saying things out loud that others weren't willing to say."
Even if her issues weren't necessarily someone else's, she said, being willing to share them made her relatable to others going through turmoil.
Fanucci hopes to foster conversations and community among her 30,000 followers, exploring how believers can discern divine presence and direction during life's most challenging times. While she's enjoyed plenty of positive feedback, occasional haters surface too – especially as Fanucci feels increasingly compelled to post about the iniquities she sees.
"There's so much injustice going on in the world and in our own country, and I don't think people of faith can keep silent about that," she said. "As I've spoken up, there's people who get angry, who unfollow or who tell you to stay in your own lane. ... What any given individual puts out into the world is not for everyone."

Telling · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2026, 02:28:59 PM »

Fanucci called the Vatican's willingness to embrace social media "a fantastic development," reflecting foresight over fear or condemnation.
"The Church is saying, we want to be where people are," she said. "Rather than preaching of its dangers, they're saying there's possibility here for growth and connection, and we want to be there to share the most ancient truth that we have."
Nico Chavando (Instagram: @epicdailycatholic)
Nico Chavando, 30, launched his social media presence on TikTok five or six years ago. At the time, he was a teacher preparing young Catholics for the sacrament of confirmation, but he found himself disappointed by the number of people who never regularly returned to Sunday Mass after it was done.
He wondered: Had they only pursued confirmation because their parents pushed them into it? Had they been taught that everyone goes to heaven, or that receiving the sacrament was enough to gain entry?
"I wanted to spread the truth that you have to start living it now," said Chavando, a Catholic-focused life coach who lives with his wife and infant son in Los Angeles. "I thought, I'm going to take the stuff I want to share to those who want to receive it."
Chavando felt he could find that audience on social media, seeing his mission as "kind of a crusade" to confront the complacency he sensed among some Catholics in how they lived their faith. His account now has 39,000 followers.
"My focus is to help people want what Jesus wants for them now," he said. "What I want to do is live as Jesus lived. What he wanted was for everyone to go to heaven, but he knew not everyone would."
Chavando's simple posts feature short, often one-sentence prayers, some of which he recites himself and others written in text overlaying Christian art.

Telling · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2026, 02:30:17 PM »

He's questioned his online presence, fearful of feeding the habits of those struggling with screen addiction. That's partly why his posts are so brief, he said.
"Part of me wondered, should I keep on making content?" he said. "I would rather people be with God in the present. At the same time, maybe some people can only be reached on social media. People have reached out and told me my content has helped them, so overall I think it's a good thing."
Tanner Kalina (Instagram: @tannerkalina)
Tanner Kalina, a 34-year-old evangelist, actor, and author based in Northern Colorado, said the Vatican's mission "to reach every soul" explains why he counts social media among the tools he uses to share his faith.
"I've tasted all the world can offer only to come up empty and broken," he said. "I've also tasted the healing, loving power of God and I want as many people as possible to experience that."
His Instagram account, with 30,000 followers, taps his experience as an actor and onetime comedian, mixing musings on faith and life's milestones with teasers for "James the Less," the TV show in which he stars on the conservative Eternal Word Television Network.
Just the same, he's glad that the Vatican is promoting the term "digital missionaries" over influencers.
"'Influencer' feels like I'm in control and it's all about me, while 'digital missionary' feels like I have a purpose and someone above me who I'm serving," Kalina said.
He worries that some Catholic content creators might confuse popularity with their level of influence.
"Sometimes when we post things, there can be a temptation to check all the likes and the comments and the views," he said in a Jan. 25 post, "and lately I've been thinking a lot about why that is."
He told USA TODAY that a popularity-focused mindset "is the exact opposite of what the Church teaches."
"Real influence is in doing small things with great love, oftentimes hidden and unknown to people," Kalina said. "If we have influence but aren't living that out, then we're just clanging cymbals, as my man, St. Paul, would say."

Stubborn · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2026, 02:33:04 PM »

Novus Ordo all the way. The last thing NO lay people ("digital missionaries"

) should be doing is striving to gain more NO members.

Telling · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2026, 02:38:38 PM »

If you're speaking of me, I'm not just a layperson. I'm a Professor, and a Seminarian discerning a Vocation. Anyway, here is what the Catechism teaches even about Lay Missionaries: "For lay people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circuмstances of the world."⁴⁴⁰

Quote

This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful.⁴⁴¹

906 Lay people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communications media.⁴⁴²

And many of those doing this Catholic Evangelism Work online, as mentioned, are Priests, Brothers and Nuns. The Vatican is encouraging it greatly, which is fantastic news imo, and shows that the claims that the Vatican is no more interested in Evangelism are not accurate. Yes, there may be some Communists etc there who would like Catholic Evangelism to stop, but there are many more Catholic Cardinals etc who want Catholic Evangelism to continue.

CathInfo.com

Author Topic: Digital Missionaries earn Vatican's Blessing. (Read 16242 times)

Telling

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Stubborn

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