As a Catholic youth minister, Angie Bosio enjoys inspiring and educating others in the faith. So when her Facebook followers began expressing interest in purchasing her hobby illustrations of Catholic saints or scenes from daily Bible readings, she launched a website and then an Instagram page.
Still, when the 51-year-old Nashville resident was invited by the Vatican to attend a gathering of Catholic influencers in Rome this summer, it caught Bosio by surprise because she barely had 600 followers.
“The Vatican is definitely trying to reach out, to bring everyone under the tent,” Bosio said. “They’re acknowledging that this is a space that’s not optional. We need to evangelize, and this is a space that people are occupying and we need to bring our Catholic culture into that space.”
The Catholic Church isn't alone among faith groups in having recognized social media's potential for proselytizing. Evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham and Paula White-Cain have taken to YouTube to share sermons and teachings. The Dalai Lama has advocated digital outreach among Buddhist monks, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints posts words of inspiration and adherents' personal testimonies for its 1.4 million Instagram followers.
