This article analyzes the Catholic prayer app Hallow as a strategic site for examining the intersections between contemporary Catholicism, platform capitalism, and the rise of techno-conservative ideologies in Silicon Valley. Supported by influential technology investors such as Peter Thiel, a central figure in both the U.S. tech industry and the contemporary conservative political movement, Hallow illustrates how religious practices are increasingly shaped by venture capital networks, digital infrastructures, and ideological projects that combine moral traditionalism with technological optimism.
Drawing on an interdisciplinary qualitative approach, the article mobilizes contributions from platform studies (Van Dijck, Poell, and De Waal), the critical political economy of technology and digital religion studies. The central argument is that Hallow operates not merely as a religious application but as a platformed regime of spiritual governance, in which prayer is reconfigured as a personalized, data-driven, and performance-oriented practice aligned with neoliberal and techno-conservative rationalities.
The analysis focuses on the app's interface design, content organization, discursive framing, and institutional narratives, as well as on the public positioning of its founders and investors. Particular attention is given to how Catholic prayer, traditionally understood as a communal and liturgical act, is reframed through the language of self-optimization, emotional regulation, and individual spiritual productivity.
By situating Hallow within broader networks of Silicon Valley conservatism, the article argues that the platform contributes to the emergence of a form of digital Catholicism that merges spiritual discipline, moral conservatism, and venture-backed technological mediation, raising critical questions about religious authority, data governance, and the political economy of faith in an era of platform-mediated spirituality