UGLY secrets of America’s most popular Christian prayer app, as founder abandons troubled Hollywood backers. Report by JAMES REINL

A Christian app that guides cell phone users through prayers and meditations has taken the internet by storm. 

Hallow’s founders claimed their app has had 22 million downloads across more than 150 countries as of April.

For some, its success is a sign that Christianity is rebounding in the West after decades of decline, as millions of tech-savvy young people turn to God.

The app helps guide users through prayer, listen to music that brings them closer to God and even offers bedtime stories, homilies and chants.  

Celebrity endorsements have also helped its success – Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Gwen Stefani and Jonathan Roumie, who played Jesus Christ in The Chosen, have spread the message.

But Hallow’s story has not been without controversy.

The app has been banned in some countries, and critics have slammed its eye-watering $70 annual subscription – calling CEO and founder Alex Jones a greedy profiteer. 

One Catholic user wrote, ‘I couldn’t help but feel a certain discomfort with the way the ads utilize religious elements to sell its services. It seems to walk a fine line between genuine spiritual guidance and commercial exploitation of faith.’

Critics have also called out its ties to celebrities with dubious moral records. 

Gen Zers are bucking a decades-long trend toward atheism in America, says Pew Research 

A Catholic prayer app is doing brisk business, with an alleged 22 million downloads since 2018

The app’s been accused of being heavily aligned with the Christian right, and critics point out previous investments from Vice President JD Vance and ties to actor and QAnon conspiracy theorist Jim Caviezel, who recounted a wild theory suggesting that elites were drinking the blood of children in order to benefit from a ‘rejuvenating’ chemical ‘adrenochrome’.

‘They’re pulling kids out of the darkest recesses of hell right now, in dumps and all kinds of places. The adrenochrome-ing of children, look …’ Caviezel said.

Despite this, Alex Jones says Hallow’s success is nothing short of ‘insane.’

He posted on X to celebrate the 1.3 million users who’d signed up for his Lent Challenge, encouraging them to mark the 40-day run-up to Easter.

‘Christ is King,’ said Jones, who was raised Catholic in Columbus, Ohio. At one point, Jones had fallen away from his faith, but the former engineering student from Notre Dame returned to his religious roots again. 

Jones has said Hallow helps people get some peace and spirituality amid their hectic lives and develop a habit of prayer.

Hallow CEO and co-founder Alex Jones, pictured

People live ‘in their phones’ nowadays, he told Fox News, adding that he wants them to ‘stop scrolling in some feed for half a second’ and spend 10 minutes ‘in silence and to grow deeper in relationship with the Lord.’

Hallow launched in 2018 and the company claims it’s become the most successful Catholic app in the world.

In 2021, his app raised $40 million in Series B funding. 

After a commercial during the widely-watched 2024 Super Bowl, it briefly took the top spot on Apple’s download chart.

The platform currently ranks No. 21 among ‘reference’ apps.

Users can pay an annual $69.99 fee to access thousands of uplifting stories, audio-guided prayers, Bible readings, music and meditations led by top theologians and clerics. 

Users say they like the app’s sense of humor, its good music and that it is ‘not cheesy.’

It has many Gen Z fans, who may be bucking a decades-long trend toward atheism.

The number of Americans with no religious affiliation jumped from 5% to 29% between 1972 and 2021.

For decades, America’s churches have struggled to get believers to show up for services 

Actors Mark Wahlberg, left, and Jonathan Roumie, right, are some of the app’s celebrity endorsers 

So is Chris Pratt, known for his roles in Parks and Recreation and Guardians of the Galaxy

New data from the Pew Research Center show that the decline in religiosity may be leveling off thanks to a rise in adherence among Gen Z Americans born between 2000 and 2006.

Pew’s latest polling showed 46% of Gen Zers identify as Christian today. 

Hallow’s celebrity endorsements from A-listers including Wahlberg (also an investor who urges users to ‘stay prayed up’ and fast during Lent) help it to stand out in a crowded market for Christian apps.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Roumie narrates the spiritual classic He Leadeth Me to users in his trademark soothing voice.

But some of the app’s celebrity backers have proven controversial.

Stefani, a devout Catholic and former No Doubt singer, faced backlash from fans after she endorsed Hallow. Some called it a ‘massive disappointment’ that the ‘old Gwen’ was ‘lost’ and ‘gone to the dark side.’

Hallow was slammed for partnering with actors Liam Neeson (who has shown support for abortion access) and Russell Brand (who’s been accused of rape, which he denies).

In the wake of these charges against Brand, the app announced it cut ties with him.

‘We are no longer advertising on Russell’s show,’ Alex Jones told OSV News in a statement provided April 7.

The app has seemingly struggled to gain traction in other parts of Christendom.

Jones said last year that Hallow had been ‘kicked out of the App Store in China’ because of content deemed ‘illegal’ by local authorities.

Some of Gwen Stefani’s fans said the singer had ‘gone to the dark side’ when she endorsed Hallow. Stefani pictured in a Hallow commercial

Critics have questioned Hallow’s former links with comic and recent Christian convert Russell Brand (pictured), who’s fighting multiple allegations of sexual abuse

Chris Pratt (bottom right), Alex Jones (top) and Jonathan Roumie (bottom left) appeared together to promote the app

Hallow executives call it the most popular Catholic prayer app on the planet

That ban denied him access to the world’s biggest market of smartphone users – and roughly 28 million Christians.

In January, Jones said the app faced a similarly devastating fate in Europe, thanks to ‘over-regulation’ of religious apps under the 27-nation block’s Digital Services Act.

But perhaps Hallow’s deepest problems are ethical questions over charging users a monthly fee to access material that’s freely available elsewhere.

The Onion, a satirical news site, lampooned Hallow users for ‘spending their money on something they can do for free,’ adding that ‘Catholicism has a rich, beautiful history of taking people’s money.’

Hallow writes on its website that the subscriptions pay for high-quality content and coding and make it possible to give free access to priests and others. 

Jones and other Hallow executives did not reply to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.