Creator Economy
Though not officially sanctioned, the role-playing clergy encourage young people to go deeper into their faith while providing a safe space for queer Catholics.
Manila’s Quiapo Church is the home of the Black Nazarene, a dark statue of Jesus Christ that is said to have miraculous powers. The church, founded more than 400 years ago, is revered by the nation’s faithful, including the Roblox Filipino Catholics, who built a replica of it on the online gaming platform.
With its make-believe stained glass windows and marble floors, it is one of several replicas of Filipino churches built in exacting detail in the Lego-like aesthetic of Roblox. On a recent Sunday, 50 avatars sat in the pews of the virtual Quiapo Church, listening to a homily delivered by a member of the Roblox Filipino Catholics group role-playing as a priest.
The Roblox Filipino Catholics group, which calls itself a “community of young people looking for sanctity online,” has about 5,000 members on the gaming chat platform Discord. While none are actually ordained, the group mirrors the real-world Catholic Church hierarchy, with bishops, priests, deacons, and monks. It even has an online seminary to train role-playing priests for the virtual churches.
“We don’t recognize ourselves as real priests, nor would we be recognized as such,” Inigo Arcilla, 19, who leads the Roblox Filipino Catholics as co-chief administrator, told Rest of World. But while they are merely role-playing, “all that we do must be in accordance to tradition,” he said.
The members of Roblox Filipino Catholics range in age from 13 to 23 years, and more than two-thirds are male. Similar to the Catholic Church, the role-playing clergy is entirely male. They are also active in their offline church communities across the Philippines. Many assist traditional masses as altar servers, and several members have entered the seminary, said Arcilla.
Theirs is not the only role-playing Catholic group on Roblox, where users create their own games and share them with other players. There are also the Roblox Vietnamese Catholics and the Polish Catholic communities on Roblox, whose masses and memorials are so popular that hundreds sometimes line up to attend. The Vatican City State of Roblox — which is also not officially sanctioned — has an active presence on the platform. It only “simulates the Catholic mass and the church’s sacraments … All sacraments simulated online hold no sacramental value,” the Vatican City State of Roblox says in its disclaimer. “Our intent is to teach young people how to pray and participate in the mass properly and faithfully.”
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, many traditional churches took their services online. In-person services have long resumed, though some churches have retained some online worship.
Roblox Filipino Catholics has an “open-door” policy, even for those who may feel excluded by the traditional church in the conservative Catholic-majority nation. “RFC has been most welcoming,” Zeterino, who asked to go by his pseudonym on Discord because he identifies as queer, told Rest of World. “You aren’t afraid to be who you truly are because you won’t be asked to reveal your identity. You don’t have to explain.” The 17-year-old is a bishop at Roblox Filipino Catholics.
Zeterino also attends Sunday mass offline and participates in other in-person church services. But he said he was more involved in the make-believe church on Roblox, where he feels more free to express himself. Along with several other members of the clergy from Roblox Filipino Catholics who identify as queer, he is able to provide nuance to social issues and topics such as hom*osexuality that some traditional churches cannot, he said. “We try to not contradict the doctrine of the church without hurting people.”
The numbers at Roblox Filipino Catholics are small in a nation where nearly 80% of the 155-million population is Catholic. But its enthusiastic members — and those of other make-believe Catholic churches on Roblox — are in contrast to the trend of declining faith among the youth around the world. The gaming platform has over 70 million daily players, and nearly two-thirds of users are under the age of 16.
Despite their popularity, these communities cannot be seen as part of the Catholic Church, which has a very specific hierarchy and tradition, according to Andre Theng, a doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Still, “these spaces offer Catholics an opportunity to connect with each other along lines of shared interest, and can be a genuine opportunity to deepen their faith and explore vocations to religious life or priesthood,” Theng, who studies the intersection of online and offline space and religious discourse, told Rest of World.
“We try to not contradict the doctrine of the church without hurting people.”
For the Roblox Filipino Catholics, the platform also serves as an archival tool, helping preserve the memory of churches that have been destroyed: for example, the historic St. Ferdinand Parish church in Ilagan city that was consumed in a fire last year. The community has recreated this parish and others virtually, said Arcilla. “Online, it’s easier to preserve — we’re doing this to also preserve our Filipino heritage.”
Beyond worship, the community’s Discord server has spaces for theological debates and discussions on religious matters and church doctrine. There’s also a channel dedicated to prayer requests: for overcoming sin, for sick relatives, for typhoon victims, and for passing exams. Community members often combine teenage internet slang with Catholic prayer. “Glory be to the skibidi father,” one user jokingly wrote, referring to a viral meme popular among teenagers.
“It’s really important that Catholicism is taught in a manner that is more in tune with the times,” said Arcilla, noting that while they are only role-playing, all their homilies are original. “My inspiration for my homilies is my personal experience, and the experiences of people I know.”
Zeterino said that while the make-believe churches on Roblox are no substitute for the traditional church, they have a place, particularly for those looking to express their faith in a more open forum. “We are trying to make a comfortable space for them,” he said. “This thing is not just a joke. It’s not just role playing. It’s really a community serving God.”
