6 million followers.
As the coronavirus pandemic forced places of worship to close across the Catholic-majority country, tech-savvy priests like Fiel Pareja turned the popular video-sharing platform TikTok into a virtual pulpit to connect with young believers.
Pareja spends up to six hours a night in his room in a presbytery north of Manila recording short videos for TikTok, snatching a few hours sleep before starting his real-world pastoral work.
The challenge is to create content that is relatable, creative and “not boring,” said the 30-year-old, who was ordained just weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak sent the country into a months-long lockdown.
Wearing a black cassoc…
Keep on reading: Catholic priests in the Philippines turn TikTok into virtual pulpit