Religious content is booming on the social media app, TikTok, where videos with faith hashtags have been viewed more than 1.2 trillion times, according to the Economist magazine and it says many of the effects are negative.

“FaithTok”, as some call the phenomenon, is changing religiosity in notable ways, the article claims, reducing ideas to 30-second clips that erode the “habits and virtues” of traditional “faith journeys”.

Conversions are occurring differently, especially among young people, who are often attracted not to established churches but to online ministries. They prefer unedited clips to polished productions, while influencers are lauded for their charisma rather than their credentials.

One of TikTok’s biggest effects on faith is sowing division, according to The Economist. As ever more voices proclaim authority, people’s belief systems have splintered and worshippers are leaving traditional institutions to follow new religions.

Influencers’ ministries are often “non-denominational”, espousing views separate from any established sect. On the outer fringes of FaithTok people are defecting to “new age” spirituality. #Wicca (paganism) and #Witchcraft each have billions of views on the platform, as youngsters extol crystals, potions and spells.

The Vatican’s Academy for Life has awarded a Ukrainian religious sister the 2025 “Guardian of Life” award for her work leading a perinatal hospice for parents who receive a life-ending or life-limiting diagnosis for their preborn children.

This helps pregnant women carry their sick or dying child in the womb with dignity, rather than end their baby’s life prematurely through abortion.

Sister Giustina Olha Holubets, SSMI, is a bioethicist, biologist, psychologist, and president of the nonprofit organization “Perinatal Hospice – Imprint of Life” in Lviv, Ukraine.

Receiving the award, she said life is always precious, “even if it is very, very small, and even if it is very short.”

“Any threat to the life and dignity of the person strikes the Church deeply in its heart,” Holubets said, noting that the organization’s motto is “I cannot give days to your life, however, I can give life to your days.”

“We are convinced that there is no foot too tiny to not leave its mark on this world,” she said.

Ireland’s media watchdog has cleared the State broadcaster of any unfairness in a programme labelled by the Pro-Life Campaign as “the single most biased broadcast on abortion that RTÉ ever put on air”.

Complaints were submitted by the Pro Life Campaign and others regarding the RTÉ Investigates programme which aired last year in a prime time slot.

It offered only pro-choice criticisms of the operation of Ireland’s abortion law, and no pro-life criticisms.

Coimisiún na Meán accepted RTE’s disclaimer at the start of the programme that it was not “looking at the rights and wrongs of abortion” but was only examining the operation of abortion provision under the new law.

It then found no fault with the programme.

A new pro-abortion law in the Mexican state of Campeche has prompted local Bishop José Francisco González to warn that those who promote and facilitate the practice — including women, doctors, and legislators — will be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

The abortion measure, promoted by Campeche state’s Human Rights Commission, was passed Feb. 24 in a closed session of the state congress.

With this move, the Penal Code was changed to allow the “interruption of pregnancy” within the first 12 weeks.

Campeche is now the 21st Mexican state to decriminalize abortion.

During a Feb. 26 press conference, Bishop González described the decision as “incomprehensible” from a legal and social point of view.

The prelate pointed out that the Code of Canon Law establishes that those who support abortion “are as a matter of practice outside of communion with the Church. That is, those who promote it, those who carry it out, and those who collaborate cannot participate in the sacraments.”

A proposal by the Social Democrats and Labour to remove the prayer reading before Dáil sessions has been denounced by other TDs as showing a “contempt for Christian practices”.

The prayer is read out in both Irish and English by the Ceann Comhairle before Dáil sessions. It is followed by a 30-second moment of reflection. Such a practice is common in parliaments based on the British model.

Carol Nolan TD for Laois-Offaly told The Irish Catholic the issue of the prayer was debated and resolved in 2017 when it last arose, which showed “there is no desire to abandon the prayer”.

“Here we go again on the self-indulgent merry-go-round with parliamentarians trying to disguise what is really a fundamental contempt for Christian practices under a guise of inclusiveness,” Ms Nolan said.

Minister of State and Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae said that he would be “vehemently opposed to any suggestion to remove the prayer and the moment of reflection that we have in the Dáil”.

The Divine Mercy Conference held at the RDS in Dublin this year saw a record turnout, with over 9,000 attendees from all walks of life, including many young people.

The event was sold out and scores of people were turned away despite some of them having travelled long distances to make the event.

One attendee, Alison, was impressed at the turnout and the incredible energy at the event. “It’s amazing to see so many people here, especially with so many young people and families,” she said. “It’s encouraging to meet so many full-time missionaries. People are really giving up their lives for God’s work. It’s incredible to see the faith alive in such a large community.”

The steady decline of Americans who identify as Christians shows signs of levelling off and now stands at slightly above six-in-ten, according to a massive new Pew Research Center survey of 36,908 U.S. adults.

The percentage of U.S. adults who say they attend religious services at least monthly has also remained steady at about 33pc over the past five years.

The Religious Landscape Study (RLS) is the largest single survey the Center conducts, aiming to provide authoritative figures on the size of U.S. religious groups because the U.S. census does not collect that information.

The first such survey, fielded in 2007, found that 78% of U.S. adults identified as Christian (which does not measure church attendance). That number ticked steadily downward in surveys each year after that, but the latest RLS finds that 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christians. This means that over the last five years the Christian share of the adult population has been stable meaning that the decline of Christianity in America has halted for the time being.

Prayer by a window in one’s own home could be an offence according to the politician who authored the Scottish “buffer zones” law which forbids “influence” within 200m of an abortion facility.

Speaking to BBC’s “Scotcast” podcast this week, the Green Party Gillian Mackay MSP repeatedly denied that prayer was being criminalised under the law. But when asked if “performative prayer” with “clasped hands”, visible from a window, could be prosecuted, she responded: “well, that depends on who’s passing by the window…”

US Vice President JD Vance recently highlighted the censorious nature of the law, referring to letters that had been sent to people’s homes which he alleged warned that “even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law”.

Mackay claimed that the Vice President was spreading “shameless misinformation”, and in the same Scotcast interview, pointed out that “nowhere in that letter does it say private prayer.”

The letter refers to a prohibition on activities that would “intentionally or recklessly…influence somebody’s decision to access” an abortion facility.

When pressed as to whether visibly praying from a window could meet the threshold of “influence”, Mackay admitted that it would depend on who saw it.

A threat against Spain’s Cathedrals has been issued by the Islamic terrorist group Daesh (ISIS) prompting calls for the country’s Ministry of the Interior to strengthen security at the sacred sites.

A poster with the label “Let’s slaughter” is being disseminated online in which a terrorist armed with a knife and an image of a Spanish cathedral can be seen.

According to the Spanish newspaper La Razón, the poster is accompanied by the incitement to “make the next news yourself and show your anger at what is happening to Muslims. Follow in the footsteps of your brothers who preceded you and sowed fear in the hearts of unbelievers.”

These threats come as major events are being held in some Spanish cathedrals, for example in Madrid and Seville, to pray for the health of Pope Francis, where a large number of faithful are expected to attend.

The US Catholic bishops have criticised the new Trump administration order expanding in vitro fertilization (IVF) access.

“As pastors,” the bishops said, “we see the suffering of so many couples experiencing infertility and know their deep desire to have children is both good and admirable; yet the administration’s push for IVF, which ends countless human lives and treats persons like property, cannot be the answer.”

The executive order calls for White House advisers to submit policy recommendations to protect access to IVF and to reduce its out-of-pocket costs.

“The IVF industry treats human beings like products and freezes or kills millions of children who are not selected for transfer to a womb or do not survive. Tuesday’s executive order promoting IVF is thus fatally flawed and stands in regrettable contrast to the promising pro-life actions of the administration last month,” they said.

Pro-life advocates also reacted with dismay to the President’s order.