Pope to Influencers: Stop Being Online Assholes
The pope’s message to influencers was clear — stop weaponizing faith and start spreading compassion online.
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In an address this morning delivered to digital creators and influencers gathered at the Vatican, Pope Leo issued one of the most direct cultural critiques of his pontificate to date.
At its core, his message was simple but demanding: stop sowing division online and start building communion.
“Peace needs to be sought, proclaimed, and shared everywhere,” the pope said, urging those shaping the digital public square to reject the logic of clicks and conflict and instead create space for real human encounter.
It wasn’t a call for more content — it was a summons to communicate with authenticity, compassion, and responsibility.
Pope Leo’s tone was urgent but pastoral. He pointed to the internet not as a battleground, but as mission territory.
The Church, he said, must find the “suffering flesh of Christ” not only in the streets of war-torn cities, but also in the comment sections, livestream chats, and endless scrolls of our modern digital lives.
He challenged his audience to go beyond the superficial and transactional. Drawing from the Gospel of Matthew, he urged: “Go and mend the nets” (cf. Matthew 4:21–22).
In other words, repair what’s broken — our relationships, our discourse, our attention spans— and reweave a web of solidarity rooted in truth, mercy, and gratuitous love.
In a media ecosystem addicted to outrage and applause, his remarks cut against the grain.
The pope did not name names (though his brother might be eligible), but his critique landed clearly.
The call was not merely for kindness; it was for a radical re-centering on Christian charity, particularly in how we treat the most vulnerable voices online — often ignored, mocked, or drowned out.
Pope Leo’s message is likely to resonate — and convict—across ideological and religious lines.
He is not scolding the internet into niceness. He is calling on it to be transformed into a place where fraternity, not factionalism, rules the day.
And if we’re honest, he’s not wrong.
Whether you have ten followers or ten million, we all help shape the digital atmosphere we live in. The question Pope Leo leaves us with is this: are we using our platforms to inflame or to heal?
This is the spiritual task of our time: to proclaim peace, mend the nets, and stop being agents of division.
In a digital culture often built on ego and algorithms, the pope offers a different standard — one that places encounter, humility, and communion at the center.
And perhaps, if we’re brave enough, we’ll answer his call.
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Paid subscriptions start at only $6.67 per month and will get you full access to the ongoing Fath and the Democratic Party essays and this multi-part series on the life and formation of Pope Leo.
The fourth installment — chronicling his 20-year friendship with Pope Francis — was published last night.
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Thank you for this article. It is hard to not express anger at the atrocities that are going on. It is hard not to lash out at those that think that that’s OK. It is hard to love those that hurt others. In expressing the outrage sometimes we’re not kind in our words.
He’s a greater person than I will ever be but he does give us something to aim for, something that, of course, would help us in our own lives.
I am so thankful for Pope Leo and the fact that he is so in touch with the realities that we are dealing with in this day and age and his ability to guide us.
Christopher, thanks for keeping us up to date on the actual Pope Leo--what he actually does and says.
Your substack is not only a look at how his pontificate may be a counter-balance to our horrific political situation in the U.S,, but also serves as a kind of "fact check place" when it comes to Pope Leo.
Vaticanmedia.va needs to have a daily column listing the DeepFakes of the Pope. Literally millions of Catholics now think he has fired 6 Cardinals because it is out there somewhere on youtube,
YouTube is full of Deep Fake pieces on him. Eg. The so- called encounter with an atheist Prof which never happened but which was produced by what appears to be an ultra conservative evangelical group trying to spread what they consider to be good messages of hope. Millions of people clicked on it.
The fact that the Pope is portrayed as a " good guy" and defender of Christianity does not excuse their using him-- his images and his voice and words taken out of context-- to concoct their own messages.
(It is a short step from " good guy" to "satanic" if, as the newness wears off, his actions start to gather critics. )
In your otherwise excellent pieces you may want to be extra careful with language about him. Case in point, some people will read your headline and actually think the Pope said " stop being online assholes"!!!! That was probably exactly what Robert Prevost was thinking but as Pope he would choose other words, I think! Don't you?
( I admit it is catchy but.....)
He is very savvy diplomatically, as evidenced by his not making the U.S. his first visit or even speaking English right away in his first public reflections. After all he was chosen because he was "the least U.S. American of the Americans"-- and he knows that Chiclayo is in some ways more important than Chicago in his global arena of responsibility.
Welcome to the world of AI and a future of unimagined amounts of manipulated mis- and dis- information!
Thanks for doing this!