‘Hallow’ prayer app: Theologians from the University of Passau investigate digital communication of faith and AI module

The ‘Hallow’ prayer app and its integrated AI module, ‘Magisterium AI’, offer answers to questions about faith. The app reaches millions of users worldwide. But what does this mean for religious practice and the understanding of faith? At the University of Passau, theologians are exploring this question in a new project funded by the DFG.

A morning rosary instead of a morning routine, a ‘praylist’ instead of a playlist: the ‘Hallow’ app bills itself as the ‘world’s number one prayer app’ and, according to its own figures, reaches several million people worldwide. It attracted media attention due to its investors, the tech billionaire Peter Thiel and the US Vice President J.D. Vance.

The prayer app is the centre of the new research project ‘(S)HALLOW Theology? A systematic-theological investigation of the “Hallow” prayer app and a dogmatic analysis of the associated forms of AI-based communication of faith’, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). A team at the University of Passau led by the theologian Professor Markus Weißer is analysing both the theological opportunities and the potentially problematic shifts in emphasis within algorithmically driven communication of faith. “The focus is on the question of how digital technologies and artificial intelligence are changing the communication of Christian beliefs, religious practice and the understanding of faith,” explains the holder of the Chair of Dogmatic Theology and Contemporary Theological Questions.

Spirituality combined with self-optimisation and a focus on performance?

To this end, the researchers are examining the ‘Magisterium AI’ module integrated into the Hallow app. It is designed to simulate the Church’s Magisterium and provides answers to questions of faith. ‘The app claims to be 100 per cent in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Whether this is actually the case is a research question of great dogmatic relevance,” says Professor Weißer. It is important to scrutinise this claim to validity.

Another key focus is the commercialised form of spirituality facilitated by the app. This includes elements such as setting and tracking daily prayer goals or routines in the form of streaks. “These and other gamification elements make religious practice digitally measurable. They integrate forms of self-optimisation and performance orientation into one’s personal prayer life – with significant systematic-theological implications,” says Professor Weißer. Another point requiring critical assessment is that pastoral care is being transformed into a market-based model that sells spirituality as a product package. A dogmatic assessment of this has not yet been carried out.

Contribution to ‘Digital Theology’

This project aims, amongst other things, to bridge this research gap. It thus makes a fundamental contribution to the still-emerging field of ‘Digital Theology’ and examines the impact of digital transformation processes on faith, spirituality and church proclamation. The aim is to develop new perspectives on the role of AI and digital platforms in a religious context and to reflect on their significance for society, the church and education policy. Academic networking and knowledge transfer initiatives are also planned.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project for a period of three years (project number: 584699093). Funding of approximately 515,000 euros will be provided to the University of Passau for this purpose. The project will commence in October 2026.

This text was machine-translated from German.

Pictured: Professor Markus Weißer and research assistant Julia Bischl.