By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-03-10 21:56:23 | Updated at 2025-03-11 01:08:52
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Randall Williams, a 26-year-old software engineer, won one of four top awards from Ascension Press for his short film, Metanoia, which was loosely based on his own reversion to the Catholic faith.
Ascension’s Truth and Beauty Awards highlight Catholic content creators who share the Gospels through social media, Ascension Press explains. Ascension Press hosted the awards to celebrate the company’s YouTube channel reaching one million subscribers.
Other 2025 winners included Pete Dill for his “long form” video and Jayden Remias and Nicole Jones for their “short form” videos.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco shared more details about Williams’ background as a Catholic content creator.
Williams’ channel, Iron Inquisitor, has 12 million views per month on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. He is the brand ambassador for Catholic Answers, a catechist for the Diocese of San Jose, and an altar server for Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.
He spoke to the archdiocese about the dangers of social media addiction, which he explores in his four-minute film.
“What are we looking for when we open the next post?” William asked. “We’re hoping for something that is going to make us happy, but it never really does, so that’s why we have the phone in our hands day and night.”
In Metanoia, the main character misses a paper deadline after he spends all night “doom scrolling” on Instagram. Ashamed, he ends up bringing the problem to prayer which sparks a deeper devotion to the Catholic faith.
Williams told the San Francisco archdiocese that he was raised Catholic but experienced a reversion after attending a Protestant Bible study group at the College of San Mateo.
“Those guys really pushed me to take my faith seriously,” he said.
Despite his reversion to the Catholic faith, the temptation to lose himself in social media remains, he said.
“It’s something I continue to struggle with,” he said. “But now I have the tools to deal with it.”
