Fra Marin Mikulić said that faith is not built on coercion and that believers should not fear God’s punishment because they did not share a post on social media or write “amen” beneath it. He spoke about the manipulation of religious feelings in the “Ask a Priest” segment on Radio Mir Medjugorje, in a report published on May 29, 2026. Mikulić was introduced there as a priest of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province serving as a parochial vicar in Medjugorje.
The conversation was prompted by listeners’ questions: why people believe a Facebook post more than the Gospel, where the fear comes from that God will punish someone for ignoring a single post, and how much social media has become a space for manipulating religious feelings. In response, Fra Marin contrasted the speed, emotional intensity and loudness of people on social media with the silence, depth and conversion of heart that, he said, the Gospel calls for. He stressed that the Gospel has never built faith on coercion.
Posts that look religious but threaten consequences
According to Mikulić, there are many posts on Facebook that look religious but, when viewed with common sense, give reason to see that something is wrong. As an example, he cited messages saying that something will happen to users if they do not write “amen” or share the content. “These are more like magical practices, and they should all be ignored,” he said. He stressed that God is entirely different from social media, and that Jesus draws people through love, not threats. “All of Jesus’ words are full of love,” he said.
“God will not punish anyone for not posting ‘amen’ on that post,” Fra Marin said, adding: “Our God is a God of love. He is not a God of fear.” He therefore advised listeners not to be afraid if they had not shared such a post, but to ignore it. He said that content which frightens believers in this way has nothing to do with God, faith or what Christ teaches. “Christ spreads love, not fear,” he emphasized.
He advised deleting or removing such posts in order to preserve inner peace. He warned that engaging with them further would create even more unrest, especially if a person did not know what they were about and was not sufficiently informed. In this context, he said that social media had become a space for manipulating religious feelings: instead of a message of love, some posts, in his words, use fear to influence people.
Fear as a means of manipulation
Fra Marin also spoke about people who, he said, know that mentioning hell, the devil, curses or the sins of ancestors will attract others. He warned that such themes can be combined into content that seems appealing at first glance but ensnares people. “They know that people latch onto these things, and it is all combined into something appealing, but it ensnares a person. They know they can manipulate people with it,” he said.
He added that he notices an excessive emphasis on curses and the devil at certain gatherings, on social media, and in media posts about curses for this or that reason. In Mikulić’s view, such messages instill fear in people, and the greater the fear, the easier it is to control and manipulate them. He particularly warned that people who are not well informed associate such content with the Church.
He distinguished official Church websites from the many other pages whose content he recommended ignoring. He mentioned hundreds of pages on social media where all kinds of content are posted. For anyone who does not understand a post or its message, he recommended seeking advice from their spiritual director or parish priest.
According to the information given in the report, listeners can send questions for the “Ask a Priest” segment by SMS, Viber or WhatsApp to **00387 63 455 655**. According to the schedule published at the time, the segment airs on Mondays at **8:20**, with a repeat the same day at **20:15**. The listeners’ questions are answered by priests who collaborate with Radio Mir Medjugorje.
