The urgent vigilance in the digital world
“When the Son of Man comes, will He still find faith on earth?”
— Luke 18:8
I. The threshold of sacred banality
We live in days when the sacred is exposed, scratched, absorbed, and used by the algorithm.
The image of Christ circulates in short videos, with filters and sensational cuts.
Chants, psalms, blessings — all within the reach of a single scroll.
But amid this flood of religious content online, something serious is happening:
the disfiguration of the sacred in the name of personal visibility.
Not always out of malice.
Sometimes, out of neediness.
Other times, out of pride.
But the consequence is the same:
the instrumentalization of faith.
This warning is born not as judgment, but as an act of care.
It is directed especially to those who carry spiritual responsibility — priests, pastors, evangelizers, religious men and women who have chosen to make their mission, their image, their service public.
II. Between the altar and the camera: the invisible risk
Two types of traps arise in this scenario:
- The inflated ego, which turns the priest into a performer of himself.
This often appears in theatrical recoveries of old habits, authoritarian affectation, and spiritual-war rhetoric that does not form — only subjugates. - Unresolved emotional neediness, which turns the priest into a character of his own loneliness.
It is the hidden search for love, attention, affirmation — projected through glances, tones of voice, captions, camera angles.
A subtle flirt hiding beneath sacred vestments.
In both cases, the cross of Christ is pushed aside.
And when the cross leaves the center, the “self” enters.
What was meant to be ministry becomes monologue.
And presence becomes stage.
III. The fall does not begin in scandal — it begins in the gaze
Few will notice. But the Spirit notices.
Deviation does not begin with doctrinal heresy.
It begins with a gesture.
A tone.
A sideways look with subtle seduction.
A smile projected with intention.
An aesthetic choice that reveals more of the heart than one would care to admit.
Even without meaning to, one can transmit sensuality wearing a cassock.
One can provoke using the Word.
One can turn the altar into a backstage dressing room.
And the internet — a space that tends toward the profane by its very nature — amplifies these signals until they become a shout.
And those who watch, even without naming it, feel it.
IV. The open wound in the Body of the Church
The problem does not lie only in the individual and his behavior, but in the structure that welcomes and propels him.
When a priest projects himself beyond the Gospel he proclaims, the whole Church is wounded.
Because on the screen he carries not only his own image — but the name of Jesus, the weight of the altar, the heritage of the apostles, and the hearts of the little ones who follow him with trust.
Poorly managed exposure can cause public scandal (skandalon).
But worse than scandal is the slow erosion of reverence — the loss of credibility of the sacred and everything it carries.
The fading of reverence.
The emptying of sacred language.
The mocking laughter of hell as liturgy is turned into content.
And the most painful: the ones who get hurt first are the ones who love the most.
The little ones.
The pure of heart.
The ones who still believe.
These are the ones struck by profanation disguised as evangelization.
V. The profane use of holy language
Words like “angel,” “Lord,” “glory,” “redemption,” and “cross” appear as soundtrack to content with ambiguous aesthetics.
An ambiguity that neutralizes discernment.
That confuses the senses.
That fuels emotional — and even sexual — fantasies in those who should be spiritually guided.
It is not only nakedness that eroticizes.
The gaze does. The tone does. The narrative does.
The poorly calibrated emotional appeal does.
You can sing Jesus with the spirit of Narcissus.
And that is what is happening.
VI. From Warning to Reality: the examples on the screen
This is not a theoretical reflection.
The examples are daily and unmistakable:
The Performer-Priest:
the ministry becomes a stage for secular humor or digital “clapback.”
The priest abandons pastoral language and adopts the tone of a comedian or a confrontational coach.
Separatist Rigidity:
liturgical stances reminiscent of pre-Vatican II aesthetics presented as “purity,”
but which end up feeding judgment and comparison, dividing the flock under a “self-anointed holiness scale.”
Ambiguous Aesthetics:
public profiles where the title “Father” appears alongside sensual poses and suggestive expressions.
A subtle flirt under sacred vestments — or without them.
Exposed Neediness:
the digital profile becomes an intimate diary.
The priest films himself in moments of vulnerability, turning the flock into spectators of his solitude.
The Emptying of Liturgy:
perhaps the gravest.
Videos of celebrations and blessings are intercut with mundane everyday scenes, stitched together with secular music and aesthetic filters.
The sacred and the profane are leveled by the edit.
The liturgy becomes just another take to complete the content.
VII. Let us not be deceived: the Spirit knows
The truth is simple and burning:
the Holy Spirit knows the details.
He knows what is in the depths.
He knows the theater.
He knows the manipulation.
He knows the gaze that pretends not to know what it is doing — but knows.
And that is why this reflection must be made.
Not to censor digital evangelization.
But to purify it.
To reorient it.
To bring the cross back to the center of the screen.
VIII. A call to humility, vigilance, and repair
This warning is not against digital evangelization.
On the contrary: it is for it.
The same platform that hosts deviations can also host, with reverence and sobriety, a Hymnus Pontificius sung with organ — proving that the tool is neutral;
the heart of the evangelizer is what defines its use.
It is a call to sobriety.
To spiritual discernment.
To deep care with language, aesthetics, posture, and motivation.
It is a cry of love for holiness.
And above all, an invitation to reparation.
If you have a channel, a profile, a page, a flock that follows you — examine yourself with courage.
Ask for light.
Ask yourself:
Am I directing eyes to Jesus or to myself?
Am I drawing people to faith or to the fascination with my persona?
Am I serving or seducing?
Heaven sees.
The angels weep.
And the little ones are lost when the altar becomes a showcase.
This warning is a call to reparation.
May it spread like living ember —
for the screen can also be an altar,
if the heart remains kneeling.
Vigilance is not censorship; it is care.
And the sacred does not tolerate being a toy of the algorithm.
Escola da Transfiguração Consciente 
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