By Kennedy Hall
In this article, I write about the trend of Celebrity Priests. So, I should define terms before continuing. When I refer to a Celebrity Priest, I do not mean a priest who happens to be well-known because of his virtues. Instead, I am referring to a trend of famous priests who are well-known not just because they have something good to say but because they are marketable as influencers and media figures because of good looks, youthfulness, and other attributes that facilitate viral media.
Like most moderns, I spend more time than I should scrolling through various social media. For me, that means looking for videos to watch or listen to on YouTube and things to read on Twitter—I still can’t naturally call it 𝕏. Now, I don’t want to go to Hell, so I stay away from TikTok and other more absurdly flashy and epilepsy-inducing social platforms. Also, I am under the age of 40 and not a woman, so I don’t use Facebook. Much of what I watch or read has to do with the Catholic Faith; and because of that, the “algorithm” recommends things to me that fall under the umbrella of “Catholic content.” Among the most popular Catholic content is a stream of media that I can only refer to as “Celebrity Priest” media. More and more, I am seeing on my feeds videos of priests “reacting,” “responding,” or “reviewing” a host of things from the secular culture, whether that be movies, social media influencer videos, or stuff coming from the pope, among other things. In addition, it is becoming more common to see priests recording videos of themselves in the same ways that Zoomers and undignified millennials do. Forgive me, but I am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to social media trends—and I truly despise almost everything that every pop-culture influencer does—so I don’t know what to call the videos. All I know is that I see priests doing stuff with selfies and jump cuts in their videos, basically trying to “Catholicize” the same garbage that people consume to waste their time. The trend of priests acting in this way is bad enough, but there is more to be concerned about. In addition to the proliferation of these priest influencers—many of whom have become strikingly famous—it is clear that various media teams are behind the priests to help them promote their content.
While I personally stay in my lane and merely produce podcasts and written material, I do know a bit about how marketing and graphic design work when it comes to content production. It is clear that professional teams are producing the thumbnails, filming the videos, and generating the scripts and topics based on viral trend predictors for these priests. What is most disturbing, however, is that, in many cases, there is a clear intention by the producers to market the priest in a way that makes him look more handsome or attractive. Of course, some priests are objectively handsome, and there is surely nothing wrong with this. However, there is a difference between Fr. So-and-So being handsome and marketing Fr. So-and-So in a way that accentuates his good looks. What is the point of this other than to attract women to watch the videos? Marketing teams and social-media graphics creators are well aware that in a sea of thumbnails, an attractive image will garner more clicks than a not attractive image. And, they are well aware that an attractive image of an attractive man will bring in clicks from women sucked in by the attraction. I cannot for the life of me see how that could not be sinful. In addition, it is not uncommon to see the most well-known of these priests in workout settings or even posting images of themselves flexing in gyms. Personally, I don’t think anyone should post an image of himself flexing, and a priest certainly should not do so; it is vainglorious, sensual, prideful, and seemingly gay.
Now, besides the most egregious offenders of the Celebrity Priest class who do things like showing off their muscles as if they are advertising on a dating app, the fact that they are becoming or have become bona fide “influencers” in the most secular sense of the term is troubling. While Catholics have always done their best to find a way to integrate the Faith into the public square and media landscape, it is also the case that certain ways of doing media should simply be off-limits for Catholics. It would be hard to argue that using TikTok or making some sort of trendy selfie video is intrinsically evil, but it is quite easy to argue that doing so is lame and cringe and unbecoming of the priestly office. Furthermore, these priests who adopt the celebrity media lifestyle become iconic figures like clerical versions of pop stars, which cannot be good for the priest. I cannot imagine a world wherein a priest who becomes a media sensation will not be affected negatively by it. Perhaps there can be some exceptions, such as in cases where an immensely virtuous priest simply happens to “go viral” because of the merit behind what he says; but this level of virtue cannot be expected in priests who have demonstrated the contrary by adopting the most narcissistic and vain social media habits. If a priest is already posting pictures of himself in the gym or trying to act like a super-cool Zoomer e-celebrity, there is no way that he will make it to the end without becoming puffed up by his fame. Also, have we learned nothing from the abuse crisis? It is often said that the abuse crisis was exacerbated by clericalism, wherein a misguided or misplaced reverence and trust of priests facilitated scenarios where guards were unduly let down and boundaries were crossed. While I agree this is a possible explanation, I would suggest that perhaps the real issue has been that the office of the priesthood has been diminished or lowered. Yes, there have been issues with a certain “untouchable” sentiment surrounding the clerical class, but equally or more so it has been the case that priests have been way too touchable. There is wisdom in having priests being set apart, at least to a degree, because they are not normal men and shouldn’t be considered as such. They are men set apart who have consecrated their lives to continue the work as priests in eternity in the order of Melchizedek. The last thing we should accept from the priestly class is vulgar secular behavior, especially when it is a fertile breeding ground for vanity and self-aggrandizement and when the activities take place in mixed company with young adoring fans who emotionally swoon over Fr. Goodlooking. There is more to be said, but I will end by saying that the Celebrity Priest phenomenon needs to stop, and it needs to stop yesterday. No more stupid social media gimmicks; no more rapping priests; no more bodybuilding priests; no more peddling of handsome priestly headshots to attract viewers; and, please, for the sake of the souls of the poor priests who misunderstand their own priestly dignity, no more priest “rock stars” who fill stadiums with adoring fans—the last thing we need are priests with groupies.
