Set to launch at the end of October on a diocese-by-diocese basis, the new app aims to make online dating more personal, human, and intentional.
When Catholic influencer Emily Wilson-Hussem’s first “matchmaking post” on Instagram received 6,500 comments in 48 hours, she knew she had identified a need.
“I thought — ‘Wow, I knew this was a big problem. This is a much bigger problem than I thought,’” said Wilson-Hussem, who has worked in Catholic ministry for more than a decade and has more than 125,000 followers on Instagram under her maiden name, Emily Wilson.
The matchmaking posts, which grew into a series over the past two years, have now led to 12 marriages and 20 engagements. In order to meet this desire for connection in a more organized way, Wilson-Hussem and her husband, Daniel Hussem, are now launching a dating app designed for young Catholics: SacredSpark.
“There’s a huge need for Catholic singles to find other places where they can connect with like-minded singles that are young and on fire for Christ and want faith to be the root and the center of their relationship,” Daniel told the Register. “And it’s just a struggle now to find places that would offer something like that.”
Catherine Carey, who participated in beta testing for the app, said she has been following Wilson-Hussem since college. The influencer’s content helped her navigate the dating scene in college and moving into her early 20s, she said.
“When I saw that there was going to be a Catholic dating app by two people that I really trust and that I’ve grown to really respect through watching their videos, I was really excited and joined the waitlist,” Carey said.
The app, set to launch at the end of October on a diocese-by-diocese basis, aims to make online dating more personal, human, and intentional. The waitlist has almost 12,000 members.
Alexis Richmond, another beta tester for the app, said she was struck by the intentionality behind every aspect of the platform. While other dating apps are focused on developing a carefully curated profile and highlight reel, she said this one leads with the person.
The Person at Heart
“From a Catholic perspective, we know that marriage is holy. Marriage is a sacrament,” Richmond said. “So a dating app that is designed to hopefully lead many, many people to marriage I think has to start with putting the person first. Because eventually it’s going to come offline, and then you’re two people dating. You’re not two profiles dating.”
When a user opens the app for the first time, he or she answers a series of questions aimed to determine if that person is practicing the faith and living an authentically Catholic lifestyle.
Once an account is set up, the profile photos and videos of other users initially appear blurred. The user can listen to audio introductions from other users and see additional information about that person and his or her interests and hobbies. But until both users initiate a match, the profiles remain blurred.
Sneak peek at the new dating app intent upon leading Catholics singles to sacramental marriage.(Photo: Courtesy photo)
The concept is similar to the T.V. series The Voice or Love Is Blind, Hussem said.
Observed Hussem, “We’re not leading with the physical, we’re leading with the inner.”
Carey said most dating apps make it easy to view other people as products. But SacredSpark gives preference to the person’s interiority by allowing the user to get to know something about the other before even seeing what he or she looks like.
“That makes it so that when you match, you’ve already thought about the profile a little bit more intentionally, versus just saying, ‘Oh, this person’s attractive,’” Carey said.
One feature on the platform allows users to act as a matchmakers, connecting their friends with potential matches through the app. Matchmakers can also reach out to other matchmakers on the platform to set their friends up on dates.
“This is the tradition that has been a long-standing part of our culture, in our world, where people get set up by other people,” Wilson-Hussem said. “But this is a way that we can connect singles but also that singles can feel supported. They can feel like their friends see them and want to help them on the journey, rather than singles feeling like, ‘Great; gotta log on to another dating app and just fend for myself and see what happens.’”
The matchmaking feature was a unique selling point for Merit Tarrago, another beta tester for the platform.
Tarrago said he found SacredSpark through a young-adult newsletter in his area. Initially skeptical, he said, “I was blown away by how modern the app looks and how easy it is to use and how different it is.”
Intentional Dating
But the Hussems don’t want to just help connect Catholic singles digitally. They want to heal Catholic dating culture and help couples date in a way that is directed toward sacramental marriage.
Carey said those aims came across in every feature of the app and its development.
“It’s easier to date intentionally when you have an app that was designed really intentionally,” she said.
The app includes access to formational materials like the free course “Dating 101,” which helps singles prepare themselves to date in a Christ-centered manner. Additional resources accessed through the platform can help couples who meet there walk toward marriage together.
After all, Hussem said, dating doesn’t happen online. It happens in real life.
“The typical dating platform wants to keep you on the dating platform because that’s how dating platforms make money,” he said. “For us, dating isn’t the end goal. Sacramental marriage is the end goal.”