Okay, Vatican — seriously? In the midst of uncovering decades of global clerical abuse, you’ve decided the best outreach is to send hot priests to Rome. The campaign may include flashing abs and Instagram story filters, but it’s also a full‑on PR dodge for one of humanity’s vilest legacies.

Last week, over 1,000 young priests and friars with influencer‑level followings were invited to Rome to flex for Gen Z, posing in dog collars and flexing their biceps in filtered selfies. They’re billed as church celebs combining tatts, guitars, and gym post‑pics to spread the Gospel via Instagram and TikTok.

Among the A‑list clergy are …

Father Cosimo Schena (450K+ followers):

Father Ambrogio Mazzai (460K+):

Father Giuseppe Fusari (a modest 60K+):

Let’s be clear: this is a cosmetic distraction, not repentance. The global Church’s history is riddled with systemic cover‑ups, abuse scandals, and billions in trust squandered — especially among women and children. And now, in place of accountability, they’re rolling out IG heart‑throbs as the front line of digital evangelism.

Is this an instance of post‑modern absurdism? Repeat offenders and hierarchical blind spots remain unaddressed, yet what gets elevated? A dude with a six-pack preaching righteousness while posing with his tatts and biker aesthetic. How tone‑deaf.

The venerable Sunday Telegraph reported the Vatican’s hope to harness photo‑ready clergy’s appeal via apps, blogs, and curated social media campaigns aimed at wooing millennials who’d rather double‑tap than attend a weekday Mass.

Meanwhile, The Guardian threads a thread of critique, noting that these priests represent just the latest evangelical pivot from the Vatican. The medium becomes the message — but not in a good way. Spiritual content gets boiled down to aesthetic snack culture, sans root cause awareness, while the machinery that enabled abuse stays intact.

Seriously, Vatican: the timing couldn’t be worse. The world still wrestles with daily revelations and convictions — from Ireland to the U.S., parts of Africa to the Philippines to South America — about hidden molestation, institutional silence, irreparable harm, and devastating PTSD. Yet here we are, chatting about hot priests and social media metrics.

Want to fix declining attendance? How about transparency in clergy abuse cases, or real support for survivors? The Hot Priests campaign feels like the Church putting lipstick on a scandal, sidelining justice in favor of Instagram engagement.

How many followers does virtue have? We don’t know, cause virtue ain’t for sale. But apparently, viral clergy are. The Vatican’s plan cherry‑picks a few muscular influencers while the rest of the institution is mired in a corrupt past.

If the goal is to engage young believers, prove worth with compassion and integrity — as opposed to turning priesthood into a virtual reality show with rosary beads.