Liam Neeson By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikipedia
CV NEWS FEED // The CEO of Hallow, a leading prayer and meditation app, released a statement addressing the app’s decision to partner with Liam Neeson for its upcoming Advent reflection series.
Early last week, Hallow announced that Neeson, who plays Aslan the Lion in the movie version of Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, would join Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen, and Sister Miriam James Heidland SOLT, a popular Catholic speaker, in leading the app’s Pray25 Advent challenge, which focuses on the writings of C.S. Lewis.
Since its release in 2018, Hallow has quickly risen to be one of the most popular prayer and meditation apps. At one point, it was the number 3 app in the App Store, and it has partnered with a variety of Catholic speakers, bishops, and priests to deliver a wide variety of content centered on Catholic prayer and meditation.
Hallow received backlash shortly after announcing its partnership with Neeson, who has publicly supported abortion in the past.
In an interview with CatholicVote, Hallow co-founder and CFO, Alessandro DiSanto explained Hallow’s decision to partner with Neeson.
““Liam, we think, is a great narrator for Lewis’s works given his portrayal of Aslan,” said DiSanto. “As we do with all our partners, we thought about what he stands for in his own public life, ultimately though we think about what is the probability that this is going to lead people deeper into relationship with Christ versus is this going to lead people away from Christ. The last thing we would ever want to do is to lead people away from Christ because our whole purpose for existing is to help people grow in relationship with Him.”
DiSanto said that for the Advent challenge, Hallow wanted a voice actor that would bring to life the reflections written by Hallow’s professional content team. He emphasized that Neeson merely reads the included excerpts from C.S. Lewis’ books, Roumie and Heidland read the meditations and reflections. None of Neeson’s personal views are expressed in the scripts.
“What we ultimately came to is that Liam’s primary public image is that of an actor; given that context we can separate his different characters and portrayals from his private personal experiences as an individual,” said DiSanto. “We discussed how we might present his participation in a way that would most clearly emphasize that we were not endorsing his private views. The actual content is developed by our team of theologians and is 100% in line with Church teaching.”
Neeson, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Ireland, in 2018 supported the overturning of Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, which affirmed the right to life of an unborn child. He released an op-ed at the time expressing his belief that women should have access to abortions.
“In Ireland, men have complete control over their bodies. Women do not. Even if a woman has been raped or her health could be damaged by a pregnancy, she has no control over what happens next,” Neeson wrote.
Additionally, Neeson provided the voiceover for a pro-abortion advertisement in 2015, which some dubbed an “anti-Catholic” ad.
In a written response released last week, Hallow CEO Alex Jones said that the app does not endorse or support Neeson’s views, but that they are simply trying to create content to lead listeners deeper into prayer.
“We do not stand behind or claim to endorse any of the personal views, past actions, or political opinions of any of the narrators on the app. We have many actors on the app with differing personal views on many topics, some of whom are practicing Catholics, but several of whom come from different faith backgrounds. Several have done things in the past or may hold personal views that we would disagree with. The one thing we strongly stand behind is every word they read within the app itself,” said Jones.
DiSanto elaborated on this point noting that there are many other pieces of art and media, such as the Chosen tv series, that has helped bring many people closer to God even though some of the actors have have views in opposition with Church teaching.
“I think we as a Church would be in a worse place if we required of every piece of art that everyone who participates with it, in any way, is a saint,” said DiSanto. “We are all sinners on a journey to sainthood together. That does not mean, though, that we can write off any association with anyone, it does require us to use prudence and understanding what and how people are representing in their lives.”
Jones shared that Hallow is deeply pro-life and works to promote the sanctity of life through its app and public advocacy work.
“Hallow stands proudly and unequivocally in support of all Catholic Church teaching, especially the pro-life stance of the Church and the USCCB’s affirmation of the end of abortion as the preeminent priority,” said Jones. “It is a heartbreakingly important issue that we as an organization, and I personally, take very seriously. We would never allow any content on the app that goes against the pro-life teachings of the church.”
DiSanto assured CatholicVote that through its decision to partner with Neeson, Hallow sought to create beautiful and engaging reflections that help all people draw closer to the Lord during the Advent season.
“We want to make sure that the people who want to dive deeper, who are curious enough to climb the tree as Zecchaius did in the Gospel, get to experience the face of Christ visiting their home,” said DiSanto. “That is what we are trying to bring to people this Advent, and do so in a way that maintains its authenticity and doesn’t bring about scandal. We obviously hope that in our prayer, we discerned what God is calling us to do and that we did it well.”
