BRIDGEPORT—The Institute for Catholic Formation has partnered with Fivable, a leading innovator in digital platforms for faith-based communities, to launch Catholic Chat. Officially launched on April 27, Catholic Chat provides an interactive and engaging platform for users seeking answers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Catholic Chat offers a unique and personalized experience tailored to each user’s level of expertise and understanding. The platform features three distinct personalities to choose from: child, adult and scholar. This innovative approach allows users to access content and answers in a manner that resonates with their individual needs, fostering a deeper connection to their faith.
“Fivable is excited to bring Catholic Chat to global faith communities,” said Dave Matney, Co-Founder of Fivable. “We believe that faith exploration should be accessible and engaging for everyone, regardless of age or expertise. Catholic Chat aims to bridge the gap between the rich tradition of the Catechism and the modern digital landscape, making it easier than ever for users to find answers to their questions.”
Catholic Chat’s intuitive interface allows users to search the Catechism and receive responses in a conversational format, fostering a more dynamic and engaging experience. By selecting the child, adult, or scholar personality, users can receive an answer that makes it easier to explain to others the richness of the Catholic faith.
This is not the first collaborative effort between Fivable and The Institute for Catholic Formation. LEAD, a formation management system, was launched on March 7, 2020, putting the diocese in a unique position to pivot to online learning when the world began shutting down in mid-March. LEAD allows parishes to communicate directly with their ministry leaders via email or text, assign tasks, host discussions in online communities, provides event registration, online formation, and more. Since its launch, more than 8,000 ministry leaders in the Diocese of Bridgeport have enrolled, and several other dioceses and organizations around the country have become a part of the LEAD community.
Patrick Donovan, Executive Director of the Institute, has also established partnership agreements with several publishers, organizations, and even universities to host their content on LEAD.
“There is no need to reinvent the wheel when there is already great content out there. From our own clergy, some of whom have created great video content, to the University of Steubenville and Real+True, an online video library explaining the catechism, we have developed collaborative relationships to highlight the content and use it for formation opportunities for parents, catechists, Catholic school teachers, and other ministry leaders,” he said.
Donovan said there is much more to come, including partnerships with leading Catholic publishers and Catholic media sites to put even more content in to LEAD.
Other Institute initiatives created with Fivable’s help include The Face of Prayer and The Family Bible Challenge.
The Face of Prayer is a text initiative launched by Bishop Frank Caggiano on Divine Mercy Sunday 2017. Thousands of people around the world receive a text invitation to pray every day around 3 pm. To date, more than 20 million prayers have been shared. Anyone can subscribe. Simply text the word “PRAY” to 55778.
The Family Bible Challenge launches its 16th season on May 14. Every Sunday, a reflection is sent to the thousands of participating families, encouraging reflection on a particular Scripture passage. On Thursday of the same week, a quiz is sent to every family to see how well they engaged with the passage and offering some fun Catholic trivia. More than a dozen other dioceses participate in the Family Bible Challenge.
“In Fivable,” Donovan said, “We have found a partner that is not just a innovator when it comes to technology, but a collaborator that understands ministry, the Catholic Church, and how to engage the end-user in ways that can increase faithfulness and change lives.”
“We have much more in store for the faithful of the Diocese of Bridgeport,” Donovan added,” including skills for smart speakers, a Catholic trivia site, and even a project that we hope will accompany parents of young children from baptism through First Communion.”
For now, Catholic Chat is available for free. Matney said it was not developed to replace face-to-face catechesis, but rather to enhance it. In time, it will become part of the LEAD ecosystem.
“How cool is it for a teacher and student to engage in conversation about AI and the Catechism?” Matney said. “We hope families can use this tool—and others we have planned—to engage in conversations about their faith while learning something new. That’s the power of AI: context is removed and Truth is given a voice.”
To explore Catholic Chat, visit www.catholic.chat.