NEW YORK (RNS) — As Anthony Gross left Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, a Catholic parish in downtown Manhattan, a fellow parishioner stopped him as he exited the sanctuary. “Do us a favor and try not to be shirtless in the video for this parish,” the man told him.
Gross, 22, a social media influencer who recently moved to New York City, has been posting a viral video series in which he ranks Catholic churches, grading them from A to F based largely on a single visit. The short, lighthearted videos follow a familiar arc: Gross leaves his apartment, attends Mass and often returns home, ending the clip by taking off his shirt and jumping into bed.
Less reliant on research and more on “vibes,” Gross said, his most popular church-ranking video, posted last month, has received more than 1.5 million views.
His review from his Jan. 11 visit to Our Lady of Pompeii earned the parish a “D” rating, with Gross warning other young adults that it might not be the church for them, calling it the “quickest Mass in the city” with limited music and the absence of a social scene that evening. He added that he would not be “keeping his shirt on” for that parish anytime soon.
The video has 143,000 views and comments that include “40-minute mass you get an automatic B at least” and “Pompeii …