27 Comments
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Libertarian's avatar

Much needed post. I see lots of serious criticism of the legitimacy of the pope from so called Catholics. The criticism borders on heresy for sure too.

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Jim Garlits's avatar

Well said. Especially the part about relations.

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Teófilo de Jesús's avatar

Just posted this on my own Substack. It’s on this same subject.

https://open.substack.com/pub/teofilodj/p/letter-33-analysis-of-specified-catholic?r=rxfx2&utm_medium=ios

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Drew Roberts's avatar

I like this post, just one amendment. I'm from the archdiocese in which Alex Crow was a priest. I don't think he has a TikTok following. At least to my knowledge

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Patrick Neve's avatar

I could have sworn he had a big TikTok following am I confusing him with someone else?

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Drew Roberts's avatar

Maybe. Crow’s main thing was a cult of personality among high school students

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G. Wesley's avatar

The disappointment surrounding Crow was due to the fact that he was, for the first time in far too long, offering young adults and teenagers exactly what they needed from a spiritual father. And yet, even after it happened: no wake up call. Diocesan priests are still profoundly lame. And so another will come along who can’t take the heat of being the only one who gave people what they needed, and he, too, will go off the rails.

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Drew Roberts's avatar

Could you clarify what you mean by Diocesan priests being lame and not giving people what they want? I want to make sure I understand correctly

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G. Wesley's avatar

Sure! Except not right now bc I’m working. Frankly, I might just do a little newsletter about it bc the whole institutional response to the whole affair was abhorrent

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Drew Roberts's avatar

I’d be down to read it

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Elizabeth Jane's avatar

Really, really wonderful post! Thank you!

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Struggling Catholic's avatar

This was really well done.

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Patrick Neve's avatar

Thank you!

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Melanie Rigney's avatar

Amen. People trading on God for their own ends is... challenging.

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Alex Spieldenner's avatar

Haha wasn't expecting a Blimey Cow reference here, of all places. I loved them in high school.

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Faithful Sinner's avatar

So you are the true Catholic influencer then?

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Patrick Neve's avatar

No the only true Catholic influencer is Pope Leo

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Faithful Sinner's avatar

Etcheeew

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J. A. Siemer's avatar

It seems wrong to insinuate that Alex Jurado is a "fake Catholic influencer" given that he publicly repented and has since left social media. Committing sins, even grievous ones, doesn't make a person a fake Catholic

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Patrick Neve's avatar

His public persona coincided with his private sin, for that period he was being fake

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Fr. Nicholas Sheehy, LC's avatar

Important to always remember redemption. Thanks!

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2 Minutes with the Lord's avatar

Good one

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Theo's avatar

Solid advice here. Thanks for sharing.

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Michael Curl's avatar

That hyper "OH. MY. GOD this is awful!!!" Outrage bait drives me away. The "all alternate wing catholics are bad" does too.

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From the Shelves's avatar

This is so important. With how compelling social media is, we can easily mistake a platformer's opinion with what the Church actually teaches.

Catholic influencers are important, but they need to be careful. One advantage seems to be that they can reach male audiences that have strayed from the Church. In this way, social media could be a key avenue to reinvolving boys and men into the Catholic community.

You would appreciate this piece: https://open.substack.com/pub/thomasobrien/p/the-church-effeminate-men-without?r=1wocq8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

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Theo's avatar

Unfortunately too many of the male influencers have been leading people to extremism, marginalizing minorities and other such things that go against Catholic Social Teaching. We really need actually good male role models (of which Pope Leo is a prime example).

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From the Shelves's avatar

Couldn’t agree more.

It seems we’re on the same page—I actually mention how influential Pope Leo could be in the article I linked to above.

At any rate, the Church needs proper influencers—both online and real world role models—in everyday life. It goes without saying that any type of extremism that betrays Church teaching is altogether incompatible with being a good influencer, let alone Christian.

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