CatoliKids: A novel catechesis initiative for children on social networks

Are you a parent and looking for a simple and entertaining way to teach the Catholic faith to your children? An initiative of lay people committed to evangelization on social networks, designed especially for the youngest members of the home, is capturing the attention of many.

Is about CatoliKidsa community of online catechists and content creators from Latin America and Europe, which has been making a difference in digital evangelization since its birth in 2018, in Peru.

The project offers various visual resources (images, graphics, videos), live broadcasts, programs, series and more content dedicated to forming children’s faith through platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok y YouTubethe latter with nearly 400 thousand subscribers.

Likewise, it offers several services such as spiritual days, psychological workshops, a Mexican sign language course, printed materials with different topics and dynamics to reinforce catechesis such as praying the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and virtual talks (Club Catolikids ).

Gisela Macedo Chávez, one of the minds behind this project, shared her inspiration and vision for the future in a recent interview with ACI Prensa.

The origin and mission of CatoliKids

Macedo shared that the idea of ​​CatoliKids was born in 2018, when he felt “the need to bring Catholic teaching to digital platforms, especially aimed at children and catechists.” Since then, they have experienced significant growth, with over 100 people involved in producing evangelism-related content and services.

CatoliKids was inspired by the personal experience of Gisela, who is a social communicator and catechist. As she herself explains: “I was a youth catechist and when they sent me with the children, I wanted to be dynamic and interactive in our meeting.” This desire to provide teaching resources led to the creation of a platform with “adapted Catholic content.”

The creative process behind the production of the videos involves the collaboration of experts in psychology and theology, including priests. As Gisela points out, “the content is carefully adapted to ensure that it is understandable and attractive to children.”

Future growth plans

The vision of the founder is that Catolikids becomes a private association of faithful, with approval from the Holy See, dedicated to holding in-person conferences, meetings and workshops for catechists, young people, children and couples in collaboration with the ecclesiastical authorities.

“We know that it is a long process, but we have already prepared our statutes to present to our diocesan bishop Mons. Ángel Ernesto Zapata Bances (Bishop of Chimbote),” he added.

For the future, CatoliKids has big expansion plans. According to Gisela, “we want to hold two big days: one for children and another for catechists, with music, games, presentations, all with the aim of continuing to form in the faith.”

In addition, they plan to take their service from the digital world to the in-person world in collaboration with other countries that make up the community.

One of the most notable features of CatoliKids is the active participation of children in evangelization. As Gisela highlights, “we want to promote in them their love for this apostolate.”

Prominent figures such as Fabiana Matías Alemán, along with other children from different countries, contribute to CatoliKids content, promoting their love of faith from an early age.

“Fabiana is 9 years old, she is Peruvian and she has been part of our community for two years. She has her program ‘Words of God’ in which she reflects on various topics. She and her mom record her videos and we are in charge of editing,” she explained.

Other children participate in other programs such as “Catoliplay” (children play their favorite video game while talking about God), “Reflection of the Gospel”, “Live Prayer of the Holy Rosary”, “Seven Mondays with Jesus Crucified”, among others.

A message to parents

Gisela invited parents to be “patient with their little one’s spiritual process,” learning to “understand their stages and accept what they can and want to offer to God.” “Let us promote love for the Eucharist primarily. Always go to Mass as a family and, above all, let us inform ourselves so that when they reach adolescence and are filled with doubts and questions, we will know how to give them answers,” she continued.

Finally, he addressed the children, assuring them “that they have a very special being who loves them very much, Jesus.” “I invite you to talk to Him every night. And remember, although it seems that evil wins, love is always stronger, because God is stronger and before Him all creation bows,” she concluded.