(LifeSiteNews) — The CEO of popular prayer app Hallow said partnering with pro-abortion actor Liam Neeson was one of the “mistakes” it made as it grew as a company.
As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, Hallow hired Neeson to narrate Advent reflections last year based on the writings of Anglican author C.S. Lewis. Neeson voiced the character of Aslan for The Chronicles of Narnia movie series based on Lewis’ books. Aslan is an archetype for Christ.
“There’s a bunch of stuff we’ve worked through and learned over the last couple of years about all the ways that we have to be careful in terms of how we work,” CEO Alex Jones told the National Catholic Register recently. “There’s the sin of scandal. There’s material cooperation with evil. There’s a bunch of stuff that we learned and are growing in understanding.”
“About last Advent, we certainly made some mistakes,” Jones told the Catholic news outlet. “In retrospect, we would have thought through decisions differently. We are working always to get better and learn,” he said.
The arrangement drew criticism because Neeson, a professed Catholic, had campaigned to reverse Ireland’s strong protections for preborn babies. An ad he starred in, titled “Chains,” faced criticism from faithful Catholics because it portrayed the Catholic Church as a “cruel ghost” (while using church and cross imagery) that promotes “suffering” and “death” for women, ostensibly because the Church opposes the killing of preborn babies.
At the time, Jones said God was “calling” the company to work with Neeson. It responded to criticism from Catholics, including commentator Brian Holdsworth, who criticized the decision.
“As with every major decision at Hallow, we prayed deeply through this decision and consulted heavily with our advisors,” the company stated. “It is a very difficult decision. Ultimately for us it comes down to our discernment in prayer. I do not always get clear answers in prayer, but in this particular case I do strongly believe this is what God is calling us to do. I understand if you disagree.”
While the company is Catholic, it said it sometimes works with “non-traditional partners and people from different backgrounds” to “reach out to folks who have fallen away and to invite them into a relationship with Christ.”
Perhaps due to learning from its mistake, the company partnered with practicing Catholics this year for its Advent reflections. Catholic actor Kevin James and Biblical scholar Jeff Cavins were among several people who participated in content for Advent this year.
AHHH SO EXCITED! ANNOUNCING ADVENT LINE UP
Alrighty guys – so I’ve been waiting a while for this one…was really tough to keep in.
But, for our Advent challenge this year we’ve got some phenomenal folks joining.
As a reminder the theme is ‘For God so Loved the World’ and we’re… pic.twitter.com/jV86fL6qxq
— Alex at Hallow (@alexathallow) November 18, 2024
The app began in 2018 and says it is the “#1 Catholic app in the world.” The app “has been downloaded 14 million times and used to pray over 400 million times across 150-plus countries,” according to a February 2024 blog entry.
Its advisers are all Catholics, including Fr. Mike Schmitz of “Bible in a Year” fame and Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
It has previously partnered with celebrity Catholics, including Mark Wahlberg.
The star of the movie Father Stu invited people to pray the Rosary with him on the app in 2022, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.
More than 64 million Rosaries have reportedly been prayed through the app, according to a December 9 post by Jones.