San Antonio Influencer Attends Historic Vatican Event

San Antonio

Diana Lopez, an influencer from San Antonio known as @thesaintjunkie on Instagram, attended the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers event at the Vatican, an event described as the first formal recognition by the Catholic Church of social media evangelists. The gathering included a Mass during which Pope Leo XIV addressed attendees and urged authenticity in online witness, and also raised the topic of artificial intelligence and its effects on society.

Key developments

Lopez was invited to the Vatican event and participated alongside other digital content creators and missionaries. Lopez has built a faith-based following of nearly 30,000 on her platform, and she reported that the invitation confirmed her work creating Catholic content for a digital audience. During the event, Pope Leo XIV personally approached Lopez and her family after Mass and offered a blessing for their 8-month-old daughter, an interaction Lopez described as unlike any experience she had previously had.

Supporting details

Lopez founded The Saint Junkie brand to share the truth of the Catholic faith online. She noted a cultural shift within the church toward embracing content creators as part of its mission, and observed that the church had previously hesitated to engage with digital spaces before recognizing the necessity of doing so. Lopez emphasized the importance of personal encounters in their mission, arguing that the goal extends beyond accumulating likes and clicks to creating real encounters and witness.

Event significance

The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers marked the first formal recognition by the Catholic Church of social media evangelists, signaling institutional engagement with digital evangelization. Pope Leo XIV addressed attendees during a Mass and spoke about the impact of artificial intelligence on society and the need for reflection on authenticity in their witness, highlighting an institutional interest in how digital tools and emerging technologies intersect with faith practice and communication.

Immediate reactions and implications

Lopez expressed that the invitation served as confirmation of her work in creating Catholic content for a digital audience. She reported that the visit highlighted a broader cultural shift within the church toward engaging digital creators and acknowledged a prior hesitation within the institution to enter digital spaces. The Pope’s remarks on authenticity and artificial intelligence framed ongoing discussions about how faith communities engage online and how digital practices affect personal witness.

About Diana Lopez and The Saint Junkie

Diana Lopez created The Saint Junkie brand to share Catholic teaching and testimony through digital platforms. Lopez has focused on faith-based content aimed at online audiences and has cultivated a community of followers on Instagram close to 30,000. Her participation in the Vatican event and the personal blessing for her child were described by Lopez as meaningful confirmations of the role digital ministry can play in modern religious life.

Key facts at a glance

Timeline of events

Statistics and visual summary

Follower representation (visual):

Note: The bar above represents nearly 30,000 followers as reported on the platform and is a simple visual estimate, not a precise measurement.