In the past few days, images from the dazzling drone show at the Vatican—staged after the Grace for the World concert in St. Peter’s Square last Saturday—have been making headlines across the globe. The spectacle proved to be more than just a visual marvel; it became a viral phenomenon online. Within the first 48 hours, the event attracted between 5 and 7 million global livestream views, with peak audiences exceeding 500,000 viewers at once. On X (formerly Twitter), the hashtag #GraceForTheWorld surged in popularity, appearing in nearly 150,000 posts and generating over 1.2 million engagements including likes, reposts, and replies. Posts from stars like Pharrell and BamBam drew upwards of 20,000 likes each, while the excitement surrounding Clipse and the drone performance alone sparked more than 300,000 impressions.
The momentum carried over to Instagram and TikTok, where the combined reach hit 3–4 million views. Stories shared by Pharrell and Louis Vuitton each surpassed 500,000 views, while TikTok reels of the drone show collectively climbed to around 2 million views. As a result, #GraceForTheWorld trended in more than 50 countries worldwide. And beyond the digital impact, the live experience drew an impressive crowd of roughly 80,000 people gathered in the square.
The concert in St. Peter’s Square was far from the only moment in 2025 that brought global attention to the Church, the Vatican, and the Pope. In fact, this year has seen a steady stream of Church-related topics dominating social media trends, particularly on X. Major milestones fueled the conversation: the death and funeral of Pope Francis and the Conclave that followed, culminating in the election of Pope Leo XIV; the Youth Jubilee; and the canonization of Carlo Acutis. Added to this were the growing influence of Catholic content creators online, Cardinal Pizzaballa’s efforts in Gaza, and the unexpected cultural shift that turned Cardinal Sarah into both a conservative symbol and, later, the subject of ironic memes.
This is a noticeable departure from earlier years, when Catholic news often trended for controversies or missteps—whether it was Pope Francis’s controversial comment about the “excessive effeminacy” of seminarians or the viral clip of a nun in Naples interrupting two models during a staged kiss for an ad campaign, mistakenly believing they were a real couple. Taken together, these events raise an intriguing question: is the Catholic Church consciously—or unconsciously—undergoing a rebranding in the digital age?
From St. Peter’s Square to TikTok: The Vatican’s Rebranding in the Age of Social Media
Since the election of Pope Leo XIV, there has been a noticeable transformation in how the Catholic Church appears in global headlines. The narrative is no longer limited to internal debates or controversies; instead, the Church has been increasingly associated with large-scale events, cultural moments, and an evolving digital presence. A striking example came last July during the Youth Jubilee, which drew both awe and criticism. On one hand, the event produced unforgettable imagery—most famously the photograph of the Pope peering from a helicopter at the sea of more than one million pilgrims gathered for the vigil at Tor Vergata. On the other hand, it stirred some tension, with residents expressing frustration over disruptions in Rome, and an odd but widely reported surge in Grindr activity during the festivities that added a humorous twist to the coverage.
The Jubilee was not only about numbers; it was also a clear statement about the Church’s future. Toward the end of July, Pope Leo XIV met with hundreds of Catholic influencers in St. Peter’s Square, addressing them as “agents of communion.” The initiative extended the groundwork laid by Pope Francis in 2023, when he convened “digital missionaries” during World Youth Day in Lisbon, signaling the Vatican’s intention to create a coordinated global network of online evangelization. What had begun as a small seed under Francis’s papacy has now taken root in the digital ecosystem of Catholic content creators, many of whom embody the Pope’s vision of “saints with jeans, saints with backpacks, joyful saints.”
These new voices are helping reshape how Catholicism is presented to younger generations. A prime example is Don Alberto Ravagnani, a priest whose online presence on TikTok and Instagram has earned him hundreds of thousands of followers. Unlike the traditional stereotype of an elderly parish priest, Ravagnani is young, charismatic, and relatable—posting clips of himself dancing, joking, training, or simply having fun, all while speaking frankly about faith and the challenges facing young Catholics. His message, reinforced by his 269,000 Instagram followers and 132,000 TikTok fans, is unapologetically clear: Catholicism is not outdated, and it is certainly not uncool.
He is not alone. Benedetta Palella, a 25-year-old creator from Puglia, has built an audience of more than 112,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares reflections on prayer, devotion, and everyday Christian living. Alongside her are a growing number of digital voices—such as Nicola Camporiondo, Barbara Marchica, and Michael Mattarucco—who, each in their own way, are helping present a Catholicism that is not stern or rigid, but joyful, approachable, and culturally relevant. This new wave of Catholic influencers suggests that the Church’s communication strategy is no longer just top-down, but also shaped by grassroots creativity within digital spaces.
Looking ahead, the Vatican seems intent on deepening this strategy of modernization while maintaining its core traditions. Several Jubilee events are already scheduled for the coming months. November will see the Artists’ Jubilee, featuring concerts, theater performances, and elaborate light installations both in St. Peter’s Square and at the Auditorium Conciliazione. December will bring the Volunteers’ Jubilee, highlighted by another large-scale evening concert. Other initiatives will experiment with new formats, such as interactive exhibitions on the Holy Doors, pilgrim routes through Rome enhanced by projections and drones, and hybrid celebrations designed to be both physical and digital experiences.
This forward-looking agenda extends beyond Italy. On June 28, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will preside virtually over a youth-focused Mass at Rate Field in Chicago, addressing themes of inclusion, belonging, and the Church’s future. The decision to spotlight the United States is not accidental. With studies such as those by the Pew Research Center showing that nearly 58% of U.S. Catholics are over the age of 50, the Vatican is making a concerted effort to re-engage American youth through viral events, digital outreach, and carefully staged spectacles. The strategy reflects an understanding that if Catholicism is to thrive in the decades ahead, it must capture not only the hearts of the faithful gathered in churches, but also the imaginations of millions scrolling on screens around the world.
Canonization and Controversy: The Rise of Carlo Acutis Online and Offline
Another major Church event that captured global attention online was the canonization of Carlo Acutis on September 7. Much like the Jubilee, this milestone had its roots in Pope Francis’s earlier initiatives, with the canonization process first set in motion in 2020. The ceremony itself, celebrated during the Jubilee and presided over by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square, drew an extraordinary crowd of nearly 80,000 people—an unprecedented figure for the canonization of such a young saint.
Acutis’s legacy, especially among youth, has grown into something of a cultural and devotional phenomenon. His reputation as the “cyber-apostle” who used the internet to spread the Gospel has resonated powerfully in the digital age. Pilgrimages to his tomb in Assisi, where his incorrupt body has been on display since 2019, have soared dramatically over the past five years. Between 2020 and 2025, annual visits rose by 300%—from around 50,000 to more than 200,000. Following his canonization, the numbers spiked even further, with early reports showing a 50% increase in visitors in just the first two weeks of September 2025.
On social platforms, devotion to Carlo Acutis has taken on a life of its own. Since 2020, the hashtag #CarloAcutis has appeared in more than five million posts, and activity surged by around 40% immediately after his canonization on September 7. TikTok reels portraying him as the “influencer of God” have gone viral, reinforcing his image as a saint uniquely suited to the digital generation. In Brazil—the country where his first recognized miracle occurred—there are now more than a hundred prayer groups dedicated to him. His popularity has also fueled publishing success: a Catholic press recently sold 50,000 copies of comics and biographies about Acutis in 2025 alone. Meanwhile, his name made headlines in Venezuela just last week after the theft of one of his relics, which sparked a local police investigation and further media coverage. Beyond symbolic gestures, his canonization has had measurable effects, with the Dicastery for the Laity reporting a 25% increase in registrations for Catholic youth groups across Europe and Latin America.
#Conclave2025 and the Online Storm: When Catholicism Meets Politics
Amid the wave of high-profile Church events, one particular challenge has become increasingly visible: navigating the risks of stepping fully into the world of social media. The Youth Jubilee offered a striking example. Outside of Catholic news outlets, the two stories that gained the most traction online were not about prayer or community, but about issues connected to the LGBTQ+ community and the political weaponization of religion.
The first story, initially circulated by Il Foglio without hard evidence, claimed there had been a notable spike in Grindr activity in Tor Vergata during the massive youth gathering. Whether accurate or not, the anecdote reflected a deeper reality: in the demographic the Church is trying to reach, LGBTQ+ individuals make up a visible and active presence. Unlike in past decades, they are less hidden, less silent, and far more open about their identity. Even though the Vatican today projects a more tolerant image than in previous eras, tensions remain. The Church faces the delicate task of holding firm to its doctrinal positions while also engaging with communities that are no longer marginal but undeniably part of the Catholic fold—among both the laity and the clergy.
The second challenge concerns political exploitation on social media. During the Jubilee, hostile accounts spread insults and disinformation about pilgrims, turning what was meant to be a unifying religious celebration into a target for culture-war attacks. More broadly, the internet has increasingly tied Christianity—often indiscriminately—to far-right political movements. This trend is especially evident in the United States, where evangelicals, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Lutherans, alongside Catholics, have seen their symbols and traditions co-opted for partisan messaging. Christian imagery, once primarily devotional, is now routinely used in memes, campaigns, and propaganda. According to data from Grok, X/Twitter’s AI, mentions of the word “crusade” rose by 50% in the past year, frequently in contexts laced with nationalism and xenophobia. What begins as ironic meme culture can quickly escalate into rhetoric that fuses faith with exclusionary political agendas.
Even during the recent conclave, X (formerly Twitter) was inundated with posts, memes, and unverified claims promoting so-called “conservative” cardinals as potential popes. Much of this activity came from MAGA supporters and right-leaning Catholic accounts. Mentions of the conclave rose sharply, by roughly 40–60% above typical levels, resulting in around 2.5 million posts using the hashtag #Conclave2025. Of these, 30–40% were user-created memes, often humorous or satirical, featuring phrases like “Deus Vult” or depicting cardinals as “anti-woke warriors.” Prominent figures such as Cardinals Péter Erdő, Raymond Leo Burke, and Timothy Dolan were frequently highlighted, alongside hashtags like #ConservativePope and #MAGAConclave.
Coverage even reached mainstream outlets: a Daily Beast report noted that some conservative U.S. Catholics had offered donations to sway cardinals toward a conservative choice, while former President Trump jokingly floated Dolan as a candidate, further fueling speculation. After the election, some MAGA-aligned figures, including Laura Loomer, criticized the new pope as “anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, and pro-open borders,” framing the Vatican as moving leftward. The creation of the U.S. White House Faith Office last February, led by a traditional American televangelist, has also highlighted the growing, if informal, intersection between Catholicism and U.S. conservative politics.
More broadly, the U.S. Republican Party and government have increasingly integrated religious imagery and practices into political life. From the promotion of traditionalist lifestyles to official events hosted by the Faith Office, from videos of politicians praying for blessings to performances like Vanessa Horabuena’s live painting of the president at the Liberty Ball while singing hymns, faith and spectacle are often intertwined. While such moments may be enthusiastically received domestically, they can appear surreal—or even comical—to international audiences.
These developments underscore a broader lesson for the Church as it navigates the digital age: the visibility and engagement generated online are double-edged. While the digital sphere offers unparalleled opportunities to reach young audiences, it also exposes the Church to the most extreme political fringes and the risk of its message being co-opted. To maintain credibility and genuinely connect with younger generations, the Church will need careful, strategic engagement to balance faith, inclusion, and digital visibility without being drawn into partisan conflicts.
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