Cyberapostles: Communication Strategies of Catholic Influencers on TikTok

Abstract

The following research study is an analysis of Catholic lay influencer activities on the TikTok platform in the context of digital religion. The goal is to apply a previously developed model of influencer communication strategies to Polish-language Catholic TikTokers and to identify the media forms through which these strategies are implemented. The study is a qualitative content analysis based on a previously developed and established model of influencer communication. We analyzed 1790 presentations on TikTok published during a single liturgical year (2024–2025) by ten influencers who were selected using a proven methodology. The results indicate the presence of eight key strategies: narrative, linguistic, interactive, community building, multimedia, creativity, adaptation of TikTok trends, and visualization of religious content. The analysis reveals a strong personal message that unites the sacred sphere and religious experiences with daily life, including organizing the successful communications according to the logic and aesthetics of the social platform. Simultaneously, we can see that there is limited innovation among Catholic influencers. The risk of superficiality stemming from the short video format is also highlighted. This article organizes the communication strategies of lay Catholic influencers and proposes a model for their analysis that can be used in further research.

1. Introduction

The speedy development of digital technology, changing various areas of contemporary lifestyles, now also influences the religious sphere. One of the most essential aspects of this transformation is the intertwining of religion and digital media technology. New media make it possible to meet religious needs, and they also provide a space for building communities and promoting religious content (George 2005; Nabożny 2022). Influenced by these solutions, new religious practices have arisen, with innovative ways to teach religion, including virtual pilgrimages, online prayer services, and even technological experiments related to game culture, such as avatars in a virtual church (Marei 2024). Among the most important determinants of digital religion, researchers point to the networked community, convergent practice, multisite reality, shifting authority, storied identity, and experiential authenticity (Campbell and Bellar 2022).

Social media, which deepen elements related with individualism, authenticity, and interactivity, are situated within this digital context (Boyd 2015). As tools used for religious communication, they become the basis for media activities by Catholic influencers. Such an internet creator is a person “who refers in his statements to the Catholic faith and identifies himself with the Catholic Church, even promoting the ‘Catholic ecclesial brand’” (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2022, p. 86). By accomplishing the mission to evangelize with the help of digital tools, these people become “cyberapostles” (Galang and Macaraan 2021), shaping a new style of religious communication based on modern media technology.

The issue of Catholic influencers is still hardly present in academic discourse. The evolving issue touches upon the sphere of “celebrity culture” (Godzic 2007; Rojek 2001) and “influence theory” with references to Cialdini’s psychological research (Cialdini 2016). Current studies mainly concentrate on the Church’s institutional communication or clerical activities on social media sites (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2022; Fuente-Cobo et al. 2023). The activities of Catholic lay influencers on TikTok constantly remain a realm that is not empirically well investigated. The following research studies will fill this gap by proposing an operational model for analyzing their communication strategies.

Influencers become strong through their ability to activate followers, building their trust through long-term online relationships, as well as by influencing recipient decision-making and shaping their opinions (Wilusz 2017). Most of them are engaging, active, authentic, and credible, meaning they are experts in their field or are perceived as such (Stopczyńska 2018, p. 108). Researchers divide influencers into different categories based on age (e.g., kidfluencer, granfluencer), the form and content of their message (e.g., lifestylers, activists, vloggers, Instagrammers, gamers, podcasters, TikTokers), and the outreach or number of followers (micro-influencers, mega-influencers). Influencers can create brands, companies, and institutions (top-down influencers), but some gain popularity through genuine audience interest (bottom-up influencers) (Siuda 2009). Being opinion leaders, influencers impact the development of “digital activism,” and this has a strong impact on reality through online topics, including social and political campaigns. Social media allows for unlimited promotion of diverse content, worldviews, and religious stances (du Vall 2014).

The religious influencer possesses the typical traits of other influencers observed by researchers: he builds a personal message based on authenticity, bringing together communities that, despite his virtual nature, actively undertake his actions and often follow his choices. An influencer’s distinguishing features are the topics he discusses and the way he presents them: he uses a less formal appearance, informal ease in his statements, and a more relaxed approach to religious traditions (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2023; Febrian 2024). A key element in building trust and influencing followers is the ability to use the practicality of social media.

TikTok is presently considered to be one of the most influential and engaging social media sites. At the beginning of the year, this app had approximately 1.59 billion users worldwide, and forecasts estimate an increase to approximately 1.9 billion by 2029 (Slota 2026). Like other social media platforms, it has a professional sphere, whose users are skilled content creators, but some users pursue self-fulfillment (Zhu et al. 2025).

TikTok’s communication specifics rely on visualizing content, thanks to which even complex intellectual and spiritual concepts are presented in an acceptable way. Its hallmarks include conciseness (Schellewald 2021) and simple recorded editions enabling the creation of eye-catching materials. The vertical layout is also significant, facilitating browsing on mobile devices (Navarro-Güere 2024). The platform’s characteristic challenges, trends, and viral videos enhance audience interest and motivation. Generation Z, called the group of “digital natives” (Dingli and Seychell 2015), compels online creators to engage in a unique blend of creative and personal activities (Sudomir 2020). This allows them not only to passively observe media messages but also to react, engage, and identify with both the broadcasters and their content (Araujo et al. 2022).

Such a form of communication is particularly close to the young recipients described as Generation Z, people who function in the world both online and offline (Shorey et al. 2024). Research shows that this social group points to people who have experience in life as authorities, since they have knowledge, achievements, ethical attitudes, are characterized by honesty, information, empathy, courage, and are industrious. For Generation Z, these values are primarily conveyed through family and friends, but also by celebrities. “An important indication diagnosing the problem of authority in shaping youths’ attitudes is the limited influence of clergy and religious leaders” (Widera et al. 2025). Therefore, it is crucial to present the contemporary environment of lay Catholic influencers and examine whether “methods of reaching them, especially in the so-called global village, take into account ongoing social changes” (Widera et al. 2025).

Lay Catholic influencers’ religious activities on social media sites are constantly increasing, and the Catholic Church is noticing their growing role. In July 2025, as part of the Jubilee of Christianity, the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers took place, bringing together Catholics active in social media as the authentic voice of the contemporary Church (Vatican News 2025). This event not only honored this new form of activity but also emphasized its importance for the mission of Christians and the Church (Leo XIV 2025a). The canonization of Carlo Acutis was also significant in this respect. This young man is presented in the Church’s message as a pioneer in the “cyberapostolate”; he is a model of evangelization for promoting faith and the Church in the digital environment (Sitek 2023). In pastoral and media discourse, Acutis is sometimes explicitly referred to as “God’s influencer” and even the “patron saint of the Internet” (Francis 2023; Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales 2024; Gussie 2026).

2. Materials and Methods

This study aims to apply a previously developed model of influencer communication strategies and to identify the media forms through which these strategies are implemented by lay Polish-speaking Catholic influencers on TikTok. The study has an exploratory and descriptive-interpretive character. It does not aim to provide a normative theological evaluation of the religious quality or pastoral effectiveness of Catholic influencers’ activity. Rather, it maps observable communication practices and analyzes how religious content is organized within the platform-specific environment of TikTok. The study focuses on how influencers organize religious communication, implemented using the specific features of this platform.

Based on the influencer communication model developed in previous studies (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2022, 2023) and observations of communication practices on TikTok, eight communication strategies potentially functioning in Catholic influencers’ communication methods on TikTok were formulated:

• Narrative—content layout, message organization;
• Linguistic—how they use language and its religious inclusiveness;
• Interactive—building engagement and establishing rapport;
• Community building—activity with followers, now a virtual community;
• Multimedia—technical tools and using platform practicality;
• Creativity—message originality and innovation;
• TikTok trends—virals, trends, hashtags, challenges, meme formats;
• Visualizing religious content—visual symbols.

These eight strategies are not intended as a universal taxonomy of all communication functions. They derive from the authors’ previous model of Catholic influencer communication and are used here as an operational framework for analyzing observable practices on TikTok. The model focuses on how influencers organize content, use language, address audiences, build interaction and community, employ audiovisual tools, adapt platform trends, and visualize religious meanings. Although this article does not adopt participatory culture, networked publics, or produsage as primary coding frameworks, these concepts help situate the analyzed practices within broader media theory.

The research hypothesis assumes the use of the above strategies in Catholic influencer communication on TikTok. Empirical research will verify this statement and identify the media forms of implementing each confirmed strategy in the collected research material.

The timeframe of the study covers one entire liturgical year in the Catholic Church, falling in 2024–2025: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time (Part 1), Lent, the Easter Triduum, Easter, and Ordinary Time (Part 2). This timeframe allows for a systematic analysis of the research’s substantive level.

The research is interdisciplinary: it incorporates media studies and theology, combining content methodology with a workshop analysis (of the application’s communication tools). It examines the process of structural communication (influencer communication) and functional communication (using TikTok’s social media tools) in religious communication. The research is based on desk research, including TikToks currently available on the profiles of the studied influencers.

The research material was selected using a two-stage selection method. In the first stage, the following hashtags were used to search for TikTok posts: #kościół [church], #katolicki [catholic], #katolik, #katoliczka, #Jezus [Jesus], #Chrystus [Christ], #Bóg, #wiara [belief], #jaramniewiara, #katotiktok, #katogirl, and #god. In the second stage, profiles were selected based on the following criteria: (1) number of followers, (2) quality and creativity of the posts, and (3) recognition among religiously engaged individuals. The sample was purposive and qualitative; it was not intended to be statistically representative of all Polish Catholic TikTok creators. The aim was to obtain an analytically diverse corpus of lay Catholic influencers who differed in audience size, dominant content formats, and ways of using TikTok-specific media tools. The criterion of “quality and creativity” referred to the variety and intensity of platform-specific media forms used in the posts, including montage, sound, subtitles, trends, humor, visual symbols, and religious recontextualization of popular formats. Due to the specific nature of the topic, the research was limited to materials published by laypeople whose messages are aimed at young audiences. To obtain a comprehensive description of the strategy for determining sample size, theoretical saturation was used (Glaser and Strauss 2017). The reference to theoretical saturation is used here in a limited qualitative sense. The selected profiles provided a sufficiently rich and diverse corpus to observe recurring media forms of implementing the eight strategies. The study does not claim statistical representativeness. This approach resulted in a sufficiently rich and diverse qualitative dataset suitable for analyzing recurring media forms of implementing the eight strategies (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2026).

Ten Catholic influencers were selected who had published a total of 1790 clips on TikTok during the research period (the number of clips is given in parentheses for each analyzed influencer):

• IG: nowakalex_@novak_alexx (456)—This profile has 17.9 thousand followers. The creator publishes religious content along with promoting physical education, emphasizing that “I help people grow: physically, mentally, and spiritually in Christ.”
• Ceremoniarz @ceremoniarz.wro (390)—This profile has 51.5 thousand followers. The creator describes himself as Catholic, a sacristan, “I debunk stereotypes about faith,” and encourages religious education, “Learn more about the liturgy.”
• Ania @angel_8608_(235)—This profile has 38.8 thousand followers. The influencer describes herself as the “Daughter of the King” and highlights her activity with the slogans “My Lord and My God” and “Ave Maria.”
• Mariami @szczesnam15 (172)—This profile has 1215 followers, and the influencer describes her channel as the “Profile of a young Catholic.” As she herself emphasizes, “I show that life with God is the best adventure,” and that “I delight in the world every day!!!”
• Córka Boga @justynkajanik (151)—This profile has 5357 followers, and this influencer highlights the religious nature of her activity with a quote from the Gospel: “Everything is possible for those who believe. ~Mk 9:23.”
• Eli @eli.w.kosciele (125)—the profile has 6952 followers, and the influencer quite precisely highlights her interest in religion and theology as her field of study: “Student of Theology.”
• Ig: Katofotograf @katofotograf (110)—This profile has 6765 followers; the influencer publishes a short video clip with “a word from God for today.” The profile uses the phrase “God speaks to us every day. Stop and listen to what he wants to tell you,” which emphasizes the desire to evangelize and familiarize audiences with the Holy Scriptures.
• Boża Tancerka @mi.lena.aa (84)—This profile has 76,400 followers; the influencer promotes Catholicism through her activity, combining it with the promotion of dancing: “Let them praise His name with dancing (Ps 149:3).”
• Kato girl next door @mariawampowie (40)—This profile has 3667 followers; the influencer focuses on positive, religious content; she describes herself as “Your favorite Catholic friend” and her content style is “about faith with empathy.”
• Magdalenkoszyk @magdalenkoszyk (27)—This profile has 54.5 thousand followers. The influencer emphasizes her interest in singing. Her posts are dominated by religious musical publications. She describes herself as “just a girl who prays and sings.”

3. Research Results

An analysis of the research material allowed us to confirm that all eight communication strategies were used, including identifying the media forms for applying them.

3.1. Narrative Strategies

The narrative is highly personalized, highlighting the authors of the material. Themes related to religious life and daily life are interwoven. On the one hand, attending Mass, prayer, reading the Scriptures, and meeting with a religious community are emphasized; on the other, work, studies, preparing food, meeting friends, and working out at the gym are also presented. The creators employ narrative patterns that become characteristic of their messages (Ig: katofotograf; IG: nowakalex_; Ania) and introduce thematic series, such as “a day in the life of a Catholic” (God’s Dancer).

Faith and involvement in Church life constitute the axis of the identity narrative (“I walk through life with God”), often expressed as a declaration (“I will not be manipulated about my faith or the Church”), a personal testimony (“For me, there is no life without God. Thanks to His grace, I have changed my everyday life”), and a confession (“Yesterday, my thoughts were with my mother, who was taken away by an ambulance”). Themes of conversion and religious experience are combined with a description of emotions (“My heart is beating strongly because of… adoration in church,” “I almost cried in church today”).

Some content also appears related to experiencing love and loneliness, relationships with friends, and starting a family. Sometimes humorous TikToks appear (“we’re checking incense found in Rome… nothing special, it’s just the Basilica”), which makes the audience loosen up and clears religious themes of excessive pathos. Creators appeal to stereotypes (“you don’t look like a Catholic”), combining seemingly distant associations in their arguments (“you can simultaneously enjoy dancing until dawn and go to church every day”). They also publish self-help and educational materials, explaining religious lessons.

The analyzed content focuses on one’s personal experience of faith. If references to the Liturgical Year appear, they primarily refer to the major Catholic celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, or All Saints’ Day, days that are celebrated in a special way in Poland. Only on the Ceremoniarz profile, the clips consistently refer to the liturgical calendar, because it is related to the goal of the Ceremoniarz profile. It is based on the role of the channel’s host and the profile’s main theme.

Only three influencers publish posts related to the Jubilee Year celebrated in the Catholic Church: from a single photo with information about the possibility of obtaining an indulgence (Ania), to a report about passing through the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica (Daughter of God), and finally a multi-element narrative that also includes the Influencers’ Jubilee in Rome (Ceremoniarz). Other profiles more frequently refer to local events for Catholic youth, retreats, or pilgrimages. The narrative about these initiatives refers to the individual participation of the video’s creator.

3.2. Linguistic Strategies

The language, both spoken and written (subtitles in videos and posts), is colloquial, informal, and relies on youth vocabulary (“a mega-strong novena,” “well hello, how do I pray?”). Grammatical errors and a lack of fluency are common. A characteristic blend of Polish and English is also common (“Różaniec is calling”), and emoticons are used in written texts. Diminutives are sometimes used to refer to God as “Daddy,” while Mary is also called “our beloved mommy,” suggesting a close, intimate relationship and heightening the emotional tone of the statement. There are also phrases addressed to God (“You are my strength, Jesus”), and even statements invoking His authority: “The Lord Jesus wishes that we honor the Holy Hour.”

The statements use two main forms: the first-person (I), focused on the speaker—“I prayed,” “I met”—and phrases addressed directly to the recipient (you), which give the phrases a motivational or imperative character (“Build a relationship with God,” “Keep fighting,” “Always be yourself, please God”). They have a clearly persuasive nature. The POV (“point of view”) formula, popular on social media, also appears. It is a rhetorical device that places the recipient at the center of a given situation (“You’ve been on TikTok for a month because you always thought no one wanted to hear about God and faith, but it turns out the opposite is true”).

3.3. Interactive Strategies

The main way to create interaction is by asking questions addressed directly to the recipients (“So what are you grateful to God for?” “What are you working on now?”), encouragement to view the materials published on the profile (“Spend the day with me”), sometimes supported by arguments related to religion (“Plan December with Jesus and me”), and an invitation to comment, ask questions, or express approval. For example, on the IG: nowakalex_ profile, prayers are posted, which end with a prompt to respond by typing “Amen” in the comments section (“If you love this prayer, type ‘Amen’ and you will see what He will do in your life”). Attempts are also made to encourage followers to use the published content in their own way, for example, by copying dance routines, singing religious songs together, and praying (“Did you pray today? Oh no! Then pray with me”).

Motivating recipients to interact is also expressed by directly asking them to open up and state something (“If you don’t know how to do it, I’m here to help. You can write, you can ask, I’m here to help you”), and by affirming and emphasizing the importance of followers (“Thank you for being here with me, for growing in faith together”). Another form is an invitation to submit intentions that the influencer will pray for (“Write to me if you need prayers”), including during a stay at a sanctuary (Ania) or during a pilgrimage (Córka Boga). It’s worth emphasizing that posting a report from the trip, confirming that the promise has been kept, becomes a positive incentive for the recipient to undertake further action.

A similar function is served by materials recorded in response to followers’ questions (“You tagged me and wrote privately—I’m responding”). A specific way of responding to audience reactions is referring to negative comments and hate. Significantly, influencers’ responses are devoid of aggression (“More love for you”), sometimes enhanced by a song verse (“And even when I’m alone, I won’t change, it’s not my world”). Another way to engage audiences is through contests and prizes organized on the profile.

3.4. Community-Building Strategies

Creating a community happens through online meetings in real-time (so-called live), common recitation of the Rosary or by praying for a specific person (“The rosary for a patient aged 50, with pancreatic cancer”), as well as special initiatives, such as multi-day or even multi-week cycles of daily prayers, such as novenas and devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe or St. Joseph. Separate communication channels are then created, dedicated exclusively to observers involved in a given initiative (Ania). Thanks to this, they receive additional materials, such as prayers and reflections. In this way, sub-communities are organized around a given task.

Influencers also publish messages declaring their openness to meeting and talking with followers, most often during religious events. The actual meeting becomes the subject of subsequent materials and serves as confirmation of the influencer’s commitment to community members. An interesting example of this is a video posted by Ceremoniarz from a trip around Wrocław with a fan (“Hubert’s mom wrote to me two months ago, wanting to fulfill her son’s dream, and I tried to help her. Wonderful people and a great day”).

3.5. Multimedia Strategies

The analysis clearly confirms that the influencers effectively use the practical audio and video functions. Short social videos are published that combine music with video images (video clips set to religious songs), as well as excerpts (reports) from religious music concerts and religious meetings. Influencers professionally involved in music or dance often create materials combining written and sung texts as a single message, or videos with singing and subtitles (encouraging sing-alongs), or videos reproducing dance routines to religious music (Boża Tancerka, Magdalenkoszyk). Series of slides, photos, or video clips are used to report on events in which influencers participate (such as pilgrimages, masses, youth days, community meetings), which shortens the visual narrative.

Longer events are condensed into flashes of a few seconds, intensifying the emotions of these events by making lasting impressions. Music videos are often used to embellish religious events that are less exciting in real life (Ceremoniarz). An interesting solution is a standardized mini-series about the influencer’s life, including a serial presentation of daily life in short shots (Boża Tancerka, @mi.lena.aa). This way of presenting everyday life, by emphasizing elements of prayer or reading the Holy Scripture between eating, meetings, and getting dressed, makes religious life something normal. The most common way influencers present themselves is through statements recorded with a smartphone camera. Self-portraiture (in the form of a video selfie) is the most popular form of communication with followers. All the Catholic creators analyzed use this method. This form allows for building credibility by being close to users. It is an attempt to show a real person, in contrast to mass media celebrities. A few of the analyzed creators use the confessional format, meaning longer statements addressed to followers about their personal religious experiences.

3.6. Creativity Strategies

Despite the great number of TikTokers, Catholic creators do not present messages in an innovative or creative way. The majority of publications are standardized, ideas are replicated, and quite often in the same format. The influencer sits in her home, the camera is capturing her silhouette in a frame that allows one to see the Holy Bible in her hand (Ig: katofotograf), with a reading and brief reflection (IG: nowakalex_), a short video, or gym photos with quotes and “golden thoughts”). A key element of creativity is the concept of contrast, which manifests itself in combining shots of daily life with a religious attitude. Examples include shots of a table laden with Christmas food versus a series of Christmas images (Magdalenkoszyk) or a TikTok with the slogan “Others on Friday evening (party) me on Friday (mass)” (Ceremoniarz), or it may be a video combining shots of dancing in a messy room (party) and a monstrance placed on an altar (Kato_girl_next_door).

Original activities involve using humor to create visual content (such as funny scenes in the sacristy, combining photos with funny captions, adding lines from comedies (Ceremoniarz); fragments of the animated film “Despicable Me”—minions fighting as a metaphor for the fight for Christianity; or a video of a boxing fight with the text “When your verse of the day is ‘If someone hits you on one cheek, turn the other’” (IG: nowakalex_). Creative activities are intended to be a kind of innovative approach to various forms of religious expression and reflection.

3.7. TikTok Trend Strategies

An analysis of popular content formats on the platform, such as virals, trends, hashtags, challenges, and meme formats, revealed that most posts reiterate popular themes, such as outfit of the day, café hopping, mirror selfies, and selfies with friends—friendsies. How-to guides adapted by Catholic influencers for religious activities are also trends, such as dressing an altar step by step or folding an alb in 40 moves (Ceremoniarz). Influencers very often use remixes—film dialogues, songs, and popular media statements—which they fit into the trends of current popular culture (Mariami, Eli). Creators also use popular forms of lip-sync, dance, or animations from TikTok templates.

Some influencers consciously refer to virals and trends, adapting them to religious content (Eli writes: “Yes, I know what this trend means, but I’m not too worried about it”). Sometimes they use well-known lyrics from songs, audiobooks, or even statements by politicians (Ania). A tendency is to use well-known, proven TikTok trends such as popular hashtags (#jaramniewiara, #christiantrend, #BibleStudy, #christian, #catholictiktok, #jezus, #maryja, #jezuschrystus, #katoliczka,) or a challenge (“How many religious songs do you know?”—exchange titles with a friend).

3.8. Strategies for Visualizing Religious Content

Implementing this strategy significantly distinguishes the profiles of the analyzed influencers as identity-based visualizations of a religious attitude. The most common images include an altar, a cross, the Holy Bible, a rosary, a church interior, and Jesus. Catholic creators also often use well-known, unambiguous illustrations of religious figures, most often Jesus and Mary. An important strategy for visualizing religious content is to depict themselves in a situation of prayer, making an examination of conscience, religious reflection, and gestures of adoration (Ania, Boża Tancerka). Emoticons are used as reinforcing elements, either as a commentary on the post or to convey specific meaning themselves. Recurring forms include: .

4. Discussion

Research on religious communication, the relationship between religion and mass media, mainly concerns an analysis of the transformation of the contents in the new digital sphere or portrait of religious leaders in media (Coman and Coman 2017). The topics used by lay digital creators in the area of religion are issues that continually require reflection. This is especially true given the dynamic development of social media and its impact on digital communities. The proposed research falls within the new field of digital religion, which combines theology and media studies (Garner 2019; Campbell 2023). The analyzed forms of communication among lay Catholic cyberapostles can be considered in several areas.

4.1. The Way Religious Communication Is Achieved on the TikTok Platform

Researchers show that TikTok users primarily seek information and entertainment, with elements of education, to learn new things (Bucknell Bossen and Kottasz 2020). Content on TikTok focuses on affirmation, engagement, and fun. This approach to religious activities was demonstrated among Jewish TikTokers, who, in a lighter vein, present behind-the-scenes preparations for holidays and explain issues concerning the history and traditions of Judaism (Batten 2023). Among the Catholic influencer profiles analyzed in this study, there were also some that explicitly used educational elements, such as teaching liturgical principles. Similarly, TikTok can be used as a tool for expanding Bible knowledge in a creative and engaging way (Batten 2023).

Despite their uncreative and uninnovative content creation methods, the cyberapostles studied promoted Gospel texts in their posts, such as reading God’s Word daily. A criticism of TikTok formats is their brief style and lack of any possible in-depth theological debate. The analyzed research confirms these suspicions. The strategies used focused on simple, condensed forms, lacking deeper religious discourse. Short slogans, personal narratives, and stereotypical quotes dominate. The presented strategies, despite using well-known TikTok trends and formats, are linked to the interests and lifestyles of individual influencers. This falls under the category of DIY religion (“do it yourself”), where “children of the internet shape their religion under the influence of a spirit of individualism” (Buksa 2024). Previous research has largely focused on analyzing the use of TikTok by church institutions. Their strategies are dominated by typical communication methods such as sharing excerpts from sermons, creating short videos of services, or publishing prayers (Bluedron 2024). This tendency creates an interpretive tension. On the one hand, personal testimony may make religious content more accessible and credible for young audiences. On the other hand, the platform logic may shift attention from the religious message toward the attractive and recognizable figure of the creator. In this sense, the analyzed material reveals both the communicative potential and the ambiguity of Catholic influencership on TikTok.

Studies on lay Catholic influencers have revealed, in addition to similar strategies (excluding sermons), a greater diversity of content and forms in the published TikToks. The dominant trend is to combine secular, everyday life with a religious attitude and exploit popular platform trends. Researchers note that evangelical influencers provide followers with access to their personal lives by also publishing “backstage” posts. These posts convey a greater sense of authenticity and sincerity in the presented content (Marei 2024).

Studies on the digital profiles of TikTok apostles reveal similar practices (TikToks showing praying in one’s room, drinking coffee in the kitchen, or clips from participation in religious events). The power of communication on social media lies not in the content itself, but in the ability to use aesthetic and audiovisual effects in the form of religious experiences focused on providing an emotional function (Marei 2024). Catholic influencers build messages based on emotions, not aesthetic trends. The analyzed creators are more authentic and spontaneous, which distinguishes the TikTok platform from the over-aestheticized and more formal Instagram. TikTok religious influencers, through their systematic posting and religious narrative, build types of religious rituals online (Jacobs 2007).

A crucial strategy for effective communication on TikTok is monitoring trends and quickly responding to new, popular forms of communication. These key skills were demonstrated by the analyzed profiles. Most influencers took advantage of well-known trends, incorporating religious content into them (the most popular tropes and photo genres, viral videos, remixes: film dialogues, songs, popular media statements, hashtags). Cyberapostles often resorted to well-known TikTok trends, which could also be interpreted as imitative. However, skillful use of familiar conventions increases post recognition and, as a result, these reach a larger audience (Juda 2024). At the same time, some creators build original and creative messages by using humor, interesting associations, and recontextualization in their religious TikTok posts. As researchers emphasize, humor is one of the important strategies (Barta et al. 2023) that makes possible one’s first, even casual, contact with the published content.

The analysis also shows that many strategies used by Catholic TikTokers are not specific only to religious communication. Personal narrative, emotional address, adaptation of trends, and community-building belong to the general communicative logic of the platform. What distinguishes the analyzed profiles is therefore not the formal structure of the strategies themselves, but the religious content, symbols, and practices inserted into these platform-specific forms. This confirms, in a limited sense, the importance of the platform itself: TikTok does not merely transmit religious content, but shapes the form, rhythm, and visibility of this content.

4.2. Influencer Activities in the Context of Influencer Communication

Some researchers confirm that religious influencers are also “average believers who want to reach others with their message. They vary in the degree of their religious ‘innovation’” (Siuda 2022, p. 43). Secular cyberapostles go beyond religious themes or connect religious publications with aspects of their daily lives. Their content is more diverse, and the ways they use digital tools are significantly advanced.

From a theological perspective, the “network building” inherent in Catholic influencership cannot be limited to gaining followers. A Catholic influencer naturally wants to include building not only deepened relationships with the internet users who follow them, but they also have a pro-existential intention: a Catholic influencer exists for their followers, because serving them is what characterizes and distinguishes them (Wyrostkiewicz et al. 2022). Yet, the influencers’ attitudes studied lack an element of service or devotion. They are focused on self-promotion and the subjective portrayal of young Catholics’ lives. Promoting religious events stems from the influencers’ personal participation, which may be consistent with the phenomenon of privatization and the new visibility of religion (Haken 2025). Thematically, the content published by cyberapostles creates communities based on a communio personarum (Pokrywka 2005). Their communiques build a simple, concise message that presents lay Catholic influencers as practicing believers. Their dominant characteristic is combining authentic daily life with a personal faith experience and a desire for community, which takes place through real-time online meetings.

In addition to publishing ongoing media materials, influencers create special religious events related to, for example, daily prayer cycles (novenas and entrusting oneself). Their openness to contact, answering questions, and encouraging comments demonstrate the influencers’ directness and lack of fear of confrontation with others. Following Pope Leo XIV’s appeal to Catholic influencers, “Be therefore creators of communion, capable of breaking the logic of division and polarization, individualism and egocentrism” (Leo XIV 2025a), cyberapostles on TikTok do not employ divisive strategies. They prefer declaring which path is worth choosing (“I walk through life with God,” “I will not succumb to manipulation about faith or the Church,” “For me, there is no life without God. Thanks to His grace, I have changed my daily life”). Influencers demonstrate a positive attitude toward others, which is particularly evident in the influencers’ non-aggressive responses to hateful content (“More love for you”). An important aspect of influencing followers (Fitria et al. 2024) is achieved through presenting one’s religious life and religious practices, and thus encouraging followers to take action: confession, prayer, and reading the Holy Scriptures.

4.3. Digital Religion

The widespread phenomenon of mediatization is also characteristic of religious life (Campbell 2023). Researchers have argued that various forms of digital religion demonstrate that activities using new technologies complement offline practices, not replace them (Buksa 2024). Research has also shown that lay cyberapostles naturally connect the online and offline worlds. The everyday life presented in “my day” strategies, with elements of prayer or religious reflection, confirms that the cyberworld and the real world are similar and difficult to separate for the younger generation. The activities of Catholic digital creators demonstrate a highly individualized mode of activity in the religious sphere. Through the systematic nature of their publications and a narrative axis rooted in religious themes, they build forms of online religious rituals (Jacobs 2007).

Researchers’ analyses indicate that the TikTok profiles of Catholic influencers (both clergy and lay) also reach atheist audiences, which also leads to critical reactions to the published content (Juda 2021). They also offer an opportunity for evangelization in an online environment that would never otherwise exist in traditional, stationary forms of religious communication. Researchers also emphasize the platform’s relational capabilities, where one post can serve as a pretext for publishing another influencer’s post, with a relatively rapid response to the presented content (Juda 2021). Yet, the studied profiles did not show such activities. Their format emphasizes the creators’ personal messages.

The visible thematic scope of TikToks and their specific media implementations demonstrate that they partially align with the tenets of the message of Francis (2019, 2020) and Leo XIV (2025a, 2025b) regarding the mission of Catholic digital creators. There is a noticeable use of new technologies to convey evangelizing content (reading and commenting on the Holy Scriptures), convey religious values (such as premarital chastity), emphasize the importance of prayer and the sacraments (publishing prayer texts, presenting oneself during prayer, encouraging going to confession), and demonstrate a connection with the ecclesial community (publishing excerpts from meetings of religious groups, building community, e.g., among altar boys). Papal guidelines regarding avoiding experiencing faith in isolation and subjecting oneself to artificial algorithms are implemented through interactivity with followers and encouraging commenting.

5. Conclusions

The phenomenon of Catholic influencers on TikTok, also described as “cyberapostles” who use modern technology to evangelize, is an exceptional and current field of research in the contemporary area of digital religion. Media studies, which continue to deepen the study of social media communication, allow us to identify the most important forms of media activity by Catholic influencers.

The presented research focuses on the communication strategies of lay people, analyzing how they combine the authenticity of everyday life with religious messages aimed at Generation Z. It was demonstrated that the studied creators create and utilize strategies. This means that the research hypothesis regarding using strategies in communication by Catholic influencers on TikTok was confirmed.

The analyses conducted were qualitative, with elements of systematic content coding. Each of the identified strategies was identified based on recurring communication patterns present in the analyzed material. To increase the study’s reliability, comparative readings of the material and verification of interpretive consistency were used.

Eight key areas of action were identified: narrative techniques, linguistic techniques, ways of building a virtual community, creative strategies, interactive strategies, multimedia strategies, strategies for addressing TikTok trends, and visualizing religious content. The media forms used to implement these strategies were identified, demonstrating that they align with both media studies on the practicality of social media and influencer media communication and theological analysis (digital religion). The study emphasizes that lay Catholic influencers prioritize experiences and emotions, avoiding formal messages in favor of direct contact with the audience.

Cyberapostles prefer personalized communication, which involves freely combining sacred spheres, such as prayer, with elements of daily life, such as sports and fashion. In terms of language, creators emphasize colloquialisms and a close relationship with God, often using youth slang and affectionate terms. Building an engaged community through shared online prayers, responding to audience questions, and participating in popular trends and challenges is a key element. Visual and multimedia strategies are based on short, dynamic video clips that are intended to familiarize people with religious topics and eliminate excessive pathos. The entire analysis demonstrates how modern digital tools are used to normalize the presence of religion in the social media space.

TikTok offers enormous creative opportunities and motivates youth to undertake creative activities. Yet, an analysis of the communication strategies of Catholic TikTokers also revealed weaknesses in their actions, including: low innovation and redundancy of content, standardized and duplicated ideas, and excessive reliance on ready-made trends, which can lead to a loss of the uniqueness of the religious message in favor of pure entertainment. This is also confirmed by the frequent use of music videos in the content, which increases the risk of superficiality based on making an impression. A selective approach to the liturgical calendar and limited engagement with important Catholic Church events were observed. The focus on generating audience responses, organizing followers around the influencer, and a highly personalized narrative can result in a shift in emphasis from religious issues to the attractive media figure of the online creator. Another aspect is excessive emotionalism in religious communication.

The phenomenon of the secular cyberapostolate, illustrated through the example of the TikTok platform, reveals a significant shift in the ways evangelization is being carried out, with personal testimony and the technical capabilities of the digital platform becoming the vehicles for religious content, as well as using the customs of the “digital world.” Analyses show that the Catholic cyberapostolate is shaped not only by theological content but also by the platform’s algorithmic logic and the aesthetics of digital communication. In this sense, the cyberapostolate not only changes forms of communication but can also influence the way that belonging to the Church is experienced. The developed models of communication strategies emerge as potential reference points for further research on religious influence, from the perspectives of both media studies and theology.