With church congregations declining and TikTok influencers holding more sway, the Vatican is looking to advance its efforts to win over young audiences. It is turning heads for help from some good-looking, social media-savvy priests to spread the church’s message through social mediaread more
What if the path back to faith runs through Instagram, and a really good-looking priest?
The Vatican seems to think so. At a time when church pews are thinning out and TikTok influencers hold more sway, the Catholic Church is turning to an unexpected tool to win back young hearts and minds. They are none other than social media-savvy priests with massive online followings and striking good looks.
The man behind this modern campaign is none other than Pope Leo XIV himself, who, in his own way, is reinventing what it means to preach in the age of social media. Here’s what we know
Why the Vatican is banking on ‘hot priests’
In an effort to draw younger generations back to the church, more than 1,000 priests and friars are set to gather in Rome this week, including some strikingly attractive clergymen who’ve already carved out a strong presence online, according to The Telegraph.
Among those attending is Father Giuseppe Fusari, a silver-haired, tattooed bodybuilder from Brescia, Italy, with more than 60,000 followers on Instagram. And his followers? They’re not all just there for scripture.
“I hope it will bring people closer to the church, there is a lot of curiosity, and I am convinced that social media is one way to attract people,” Fusari told The Telegraph.
The 58-year-old priest regularly shares a mix of Gospel teachings and reflections on life alongside photos showing off his toned chest and inked arms. His social media followers are usually aged between 25 and 55.
Then there’s Father Ambrogio Mazzai, rugged, guitar-playing, and often seen biking through scenic mountain trails. His photos and videos have earned him a loyal audience who, judging by the comments, appreciate both his sermons and his aesthetics.
“What a beautiful guy our Father is!” gushed one follower on his account. Another added, “You are very beautiful and very elegant!”
Father Mazzai posts almost daily on TikTok and Instagram, where he has a combined following of 460,000, including a fan in Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.
Francis X. Rocca, the Vatican editor of EWTN News, believes that social media is essential to the Church’s future and that the energy driving this transformation is coming from young Catholics themselves.
“It’s not going to be the Vatican office of communications or some diocese that is going to generate the most innovation in this area,” Rocca said. “But there are a lot of young people, some of whom are coming to Rome, who are experimenting, and they will be the vanguard.”
Carrying Pope Francis’ Insta-friendly papacy forward
To spread an ancient gospel these days, you need to employ modern tools.
Pope Leo XIV has understood this very well. He maintains an active presence under his official handle of @pontifex, with 14 million followers.
This shift echoes the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who truly brought the Church into the social media age. Francis viewed social media not as a threat but as a vital communication tool. In 2020 alone, his content was viewed more than 27 billion times.
Despite leading one of the most traditional religious institutions in the world, Pope Francis never came off as distant or unapproachable. Instead, he worked to humanise the papacy and make it relatable, often by sharing humble anecdotes from his past, like working as a nightclub bouncer or a janitor in Buenos Aires.
His authenticity struck a chord. Within a year of becoming pope, he was named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ and even appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.
He once said, “To paint the pope as some sort of a Superman, a star, is offensive. The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly, and has friends as everyone else. A normal person.”
With input from agencies