After 20 years in religious life, social media influencer priest leaves ministry

Damián María Montes, a Spaniard, has left the ministry after two decades of religious life, becoming one of several high-profile religious figures to do so in recent years.

“After nearly three years of questions, searching, silences, and a profound inner struggle, I have decided to permanently withdraw from priestly ministry,” confirmed Damián María Montes, a former missionary priest who rose to fame after competing on the Spanish version of “The Voice,” a singing competition show.

In a message shared across his active social media channels, where he has amassed thousands of followers, the former religious said that he made the decision “with immense gratitude for everything I have experienced.”

Montes acknowledged that the journey leading to this decision “has been very difficult at times,” though he said that he made it “at peace and with a clear conscience, having truly loved every mission entrusted to me, having blazed new trails, and having built necessary bridges of dialogue.”

“There are compelling reasons, which I am keeping to myself, that underpin this decision and made my missionary service enormously difficult,” Montes explained, adding that he views the future as being “in deep continuity with what I have lived.”

In that future, “education, literature, poetry, theater, and cultural creations will be the realms through which I try to bring some beauty, thought, and humanity to the world,” he added.

“I thank those who have walked with me throughout these twenty years of religious life. Thank you for your trust, your affection, and your presence especially during the hardest times. Wherever I make my home, its doors will always be open to you. I hope you will also want to accompany me in this new chapter of my life,” he concluded.

In a video, Montes reflected on his life as a missionary priest in various locations and acknowledged that the final years of his ministry were a “very sad and very difficult” time. He said he hopes for new opportunities in the future, including the possibility of starting a family.

Who is Damián María Montes?

Born in Granada in 1986, Damián María Montes entered the Redemptorist postulancy at the age of 18. He completed his novitiate in Ciorani, Italy, where he professed his temporary vows. After studying at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid, he was sent as a missionary to Kolkata, India, prior to taking his perpetual vows. He was ordained a priest in Granada in 2013.

In February 2024, it was revealed that he along with another Redemptorist religious had attended the irreverent show “La capital del pecado 2.0” (“Sin City 2.0”) hosted by actor Juan Dávila.

Laicization among ‘influencer’ priests and religious

The announcement of Montesʼs laicization is not the first of its kind among priests and religious figures who have risen to fame on social media or television.

This was the case with Cristina Scuccia, who won the Italian edition of “The Voice” in 2014. Despite making her perpetual vows with the Ursulines of the Holy Family in 2019, she requested a dispensation in 2022.

Instagram post

In October 2023, Daniel Pajuelo, then a Spanish priest of the Society of Mary (Marianists), announced that he was seeking a dispensation from his religious vows and priestly ministry, following a career marked by controversy. Along with Montes, Pajuelo was one of the founders of iMission, a platform for Catholic evangelizers.

The following month, Salvadoran Samuel Bonilla, known until then as Father Sam, shared with his followers that he had made the same decision less than eight years after his ordination. The dispensation was granted in December 2024.

Frenchman Matthieu Jasseron, ordained in June 2019 in the Archdiocese of Sens-Auxerre, announced in October 2024 that he was leaving the priesthood after a period of absence from his social media channels, platforms where he had engaged in controversial activity, including videos in which he pretended to be a disc jockey atop an altar while wearing an alb and chasuble.

In February 2026, the Italian Alberto Ravagnani explained why he decided to leave the priesthood, a decision linked to his inability to live a celibate life: “I really wasn’t able to live up to it,” he stated.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.