Davenport Diocese launches Instagram page

By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger

On Aug. 3, the one year anniversary of Pope Francis’ World Youth Day address where he exclaimed, “The Church is for everyone,” the Diocese of Davenport launched an Instagram page, Project Todos, to accompany young adults on their spiritual walks of life.

“My ultimate hope is that people find this page to be a place of safe, uplifting community where they have the space to be who they are, ask questions and grow,” said Sarah Callahan, diocesan social media coordinator. The page can be found on Instagram at projecttodos.

Pope Francis’ “todos, todos, todos” (everyone, everyone, everyone) during World Youth Day in 2023 motivated Callahan to take a wide, evangelical approach on Instagram. “That is the sentiment that we want our new Instagram page to convey — that everyone is welcome here,” Callahan said. The page name — Project Todos — is a reflection of that.

Developing a diocesan Instagram page has been a goal for Callahan since she began working for the diocese in 2022.  “I didn’t want to rush it when I first started here, because I wanted to lean into developing and improving our already existing pages (Facebook, X and website) and give myself time to learn and grow.” She wanted to create something that wasn’t a carbon copy of the diocesan Facebook page, which primarily caters to diocesan Catholics who are already engaged in the faith. “We want to walk with people and meet them where they’re at — some may not be ready for super ecclesial talk or apologetics. They just want content that engages them and prompts them to go a little deeper and ask the big questions.”

A social media brainstorming group, composed of Chancery staff, helped Callahan narrow down Instagram page concepts. “They have provided a great deal of feedback and encouragement,” she said.

Callahan has spent the past several months developing content for the new Instagram page, drawing inspiration from a variety of Catholic and non-Catholic Instagram pages. Posts will address spirituality, belonging, identity and growth through personal reflections, quotes and statistics. Followers will have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas through Instagram story question boxes.

Callahan hopes Project Todos becomes an online community where people feel safe to explore topics of identity, community, belonging, meaning-making, spirituality and anything else that may be on their hearts. “This initiative is intentionally broad and ambiguous. I want it to be able to breathe, grow and move wherever the Spirit leads it.”