The Bible in 10 Minutes earned 358k views in just 24 hours, making it the most viral Fr. Mike Schmitz video of all time.
Editor’s Note 7/12/24 – In addition to breaking the 1-day record for most views, this video also became Fr. Mike’s fastest video to hit 1 Million views, achieving the feat in just 3 days. More info here.
Fr. Mike Schmitz is one of the most well-known faces on Catholic YouTube, but even he’s never seen something quite like this.
Garnering 358k views in just 24 hours, The Bible in 10 Minutes (feat. Fr. Mike Schmitz) has become Fr. Mike’s most viral video ever, more than doubling his previous 1-day record of 160k views set in 2022 with his review of The Sound of Freedom.
The Bible in 10 Minutes is a new offering from Fr. Mike and Ascension, the multimedia Catholic network which hosts the Ascension Presents YouTube channel and produced The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)™ podcast. Bible in a Year was #1 on Apple Podcasts for 3 weeks across 2021 and 2022.
“The Bible is amazing,” Fr. Mike begins, seated on screen. “But sometimes confusing and hard to read… We’d like to read it, but without a map, it’s easy to get lost. There is a narrative throughout the Bible that tells a single Story. The Story of God’s plan for our Salvation. Once we understand that Story, we can understand the context of every book of the Bible. So, here’s the Story in less than 10 minutes.”
Audience Reaction
Audience reaction to The Bible in 10 Minutes has been overwhelmingly positive, as seen in the comments on YouTube:
The First of Many Such Videos?
In addition to Fr. Mike Schmitz, a dedicated team of employees at Ascension spent months on the production of The Bible in 10 Minutes. The video’s animation was developed in collaboration with Coronation Media, a boutique animation company which specializes in unique, impactful Catholic videos.
At the end of the video, Fr. Mike invites the audience to decide whether or not they’d like to see more high-quality Catholic videos like this one. Those interested in supporting future projects like this from Ascension can contribute at www.AscensionPress.com/Support.
“We would love to make more videos like this that impart the truths of the faith in such a beauty-forward manner,” comments senior video producer Sean Boyd. “It’s up to our audience to help us fund more videos and make it possible!”
About Fr. Mike Schmitz
Fr. Mike Schmitz is a priest for the Diocese of Duluth who serves as the chaplain for Newman Catholic Campus Ministries (bulldogCatholic) at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He also serves as the Director of the Office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, and travels nationally to give talks at Catholic retreats and events.
Fr. Mike’s work with the Bible in a Year podcast has been covered by the CBS National News, The New York Times Magazine, Fox News, Washington Post, The London Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
About Ascension
Ascension is a multimedia network and the leader in Catholic faith formation and digital content. Over the past 25 years, Ascension has helped nurture the faith of over 10 million Catholics through award-winning books, the chart-topping Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)® podcast, more than 50 unique faith formation programs, and the Ascension Presents media and YouTube platforms.
Media Contact
For media inquiries, please contact Lauren Joyce at (484) 876-1400 or Newsroom@AscensionPress.com.