Catholicism & Gen Z Revival

After decades of declining attendance and dwindling faith in much of the Western world, Roman Catholicism could be witnessing an unexpected revival. For a church more known by many in the West for its elderly churchgoers, ageing priests and devastating sexual abuse scandals, the renewal is coming from the unlikeliest of corners: Gen Z.

For these young people, whose life online is often impossible to parse from their "IRL" (In Real Life) existence, this move towards faith is at least partly due to the growing ecosystem of Catholic personalities on social media: clergy and layfolk alike, preaching, teaching, meme-ing and streaming – influencing teens and young adults. It's opened up new audiences and voices, opportunities and challenges for the Catholic Church, in ways the Vatican is unable to control, but is keen to make the most of.

France has become a hotspot for this youthful turn towards God. Baptisms among 18- to 25-year-olds in France have more than quadrupled in the last four years, while adult baptisms as a whole have risen more than 160% over the past decade, according to data from the Catholic Church in France. This Easter – a traditional time for baptism – saw a record number of 17,800, with the number of adult baptisms increasing by 45% compared with 2024, the data showed.

That represents a stunning revival in a country which, while traditionally known as the "eldest daughter of the church" for its millennia-long relationship with Catholicism, had like much of the Western world seen declining church attendance in recent years. Various studies have put the share of the population heading to weekly Mass at between 2 and 5%.

"We had pretty much announced the end of Catholicism," Sister Albertine Debacker, a 29-year-old Catholic influencer who goes by @soeur.albertine online, told CNN. "At one time, I thought that it was really a grandma's thing." She has become one of the biggest names in the online Catholic world in France, with 334,000 followers on Instagram and a further 202,000 on TikTok. "What's happening among young people is that they dare to speak amongst themselves. Religion isn't a taboo subject," Sister Albertine said. Accounts like Sister Albertine's provide a one-stop shop for those looking to learn more about the Catholic faith. She offers worship (her exam-time prayers video has racked up 2.3 million views), life advice, guidance on becoming a nun or getting baptized, and explanations of key Catholic teachings.

"How to forgive," "Money in the Church," and "3 tips to start reading the Bible" are among her offerings. "She's super authentic," Jeanne Fabre, 20, told CNN at a youth festival around the Lac du Bourget in the east of France. "There are quite a few priests on social media but to see a nun – that carries a new spirit, a new freshness." The fact that she's of their generation – and a woman – makes it easier for some people outside the Church to ask questions or engage with all that she shares, attendee Héloïse Harzo said. Sister Albertine has amassed a huge following on social platforms with her videos getting millions of views. Among Sister Albertine's growing flock of followers are many non-believers, some of whom are attracted by the curiosity of an unusual, and agreeable, figure offering a window into another world. Her videos are easy watching. Ever smiling and warm, Sister Albertine doesn't court controversy. It's more family-friendly kids' show than zealous podcast host – but she doesn't swerve difficult questions, and she doesn't sell merchandise. One video asks if Catholics have a problem with sex, another looks at how the Bible doesn't include a single mother-daughter relationship. "She speaks to us in our own language," Fabre said, "with things that we can find on social media."

This wave of new joiners to the Church has been dubbed the "Quiet Revival" – so-called because few expected it and no one planned it. France's youthful enthusiasm for religion has been echoed elsewhere in Europe. In Belgium, teenage and adult baptisms have nearly trebled in 10 years, according to Church data. In Ireland's largest diocese of Dublin, nearly twice as many adults were baptized this Easter as a year earlier, many of them young adults who were new to the country, church leaders said, while London's Archdiocese of Westminster had the largest number of adult baptisms this Easter since 2018. In the US, with traditionally higher churchgoing numbers, the decline in religion has seemingly halted, according to a recent study from Pew Research Centre. A 2023 Harvard University study found more Gen Z Americans are identifying as Catholic, with young men leading the trend.

Abbot Hugh Allan, the director of mission at the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, says the latest research isn't surprising. "The conversations I have with people is quite remarkable, there's a real desire at the moment to know more about God," he told CNN. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, and amid "a hectic, noisy, and busy world," he says, there is a yearning "for something more, something different, something that speaks of beauty and joy." Huge crowds of young people descend upon St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for a youth event during the Church's Jubilee year on July 31. British author Lamorna Ash is one of those who embarked on that search for meaning. She says research for her second book "Don't Forget We're Here Forever" transformed her understanding of faith. "There is this feeling that there is something more essential than humanity, than the earthly realm itself: Christianity is so valuable for that," said the 30-year-old writer. "There is something about the particular structure and rituals within faith, it's just a different kind of architecture." It can also offer a sense of community and insights from a tradition which has been grappling with existential questions for centuries, she said. Sister Albertine speaks with young people at a festival near the Lac du Bourget, eastern France. "People can sit with the paradox and say: 'there's so much dark about this institution' but at the same time believe they can still find their own place and feel their personal values will not necessarily be coopted within a church that is flawed," she explained.

Abbot Hugh believes young men might be connecting more with the church due to the prevalence of "toxic masculinity" on social media, which could be driving them look for "another way to be a good man, and human being." In her research, Ash says that Catholicism is attractive to some young men because of "a sense of order and certainty and history and being integrated into something larger," while clear rules on morality also appeal given the "blurriness" of contemporary life. 'God exists in the algorithm' To some, the entire idea of a Catholic influencer is a paradox. Certain social media figures have become standard bearers of a consumerist, individualistic, echo-chamber-filled vision of modern society. Many would say that's at complete odds with Christian values. And yet, this summer Pope Leo met with 1,000 Catholic influencers – Sister Albertine among them – at the Vatican, underlining the importance of what the church leadership sees as "digital missionaries." "Jesus called his first apostles while they were mending their fishing nets," the pontiff said to them. "He asks the same of us today. Indeed, he asks us to weave other nets: networks of relationships, of love."

Leo met them in July during a mega-youth gathering which saw more than a million young people gather near Rome. During the event, the first American pope showed his Gen Z appeal through his quiet charisma and authenticity, addressing the crowd in different languages, catching a tennis ball from the popemobile and smiling as he was handed a slice of Chicago deep dish pizza from Aurelio's in St. Peter's Square. The Church's embrace of social media influencers rests on the idea that, in every generation, the Christian message needs to be translated and expressed to new cultures. It means taking risks and being embedded in a world of content that includes cat videos, violent video game clips and so-called "thirst traps." That doesn't faze the influencer-nun, Sister Albertine. "There's God's humour there too. God exists in the algorithm, as in social media," she said. Ash Wednesday this year – one of the most sombre celebrations in the Catholic calendar, marking the beginning of Lent – saw a flurry of videos posted by Gen Z showing off their ashy foreheads. For many Catholics, it has long been common practice to wipe off their ashes following Mass as they exit places of worship, especially in France. But not so for many in Gen Z, who seem happy to wear their faith on their sleeve. That shocked Sister Albertine. "For me it seemed crazy," she said, recalling the "shame" of being overtly Catholic at her secular high school, "but they don't see why they should hide it."