My awakening: How Gen Z's relationship with religion is changing

New York Post

17 hours ago

When someone told me it was going to be like the Catholic version of Woodstock, I laughed.
But as soon as I got there, I thought: OK, now I get it!
As I walked through the 237-acre Tor Vergata grounds just 10 miles east of Rome, around me were hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world, setting up their tents, blowing up air beds, singing and dancing as Christian music pumped from the speakers. It was a hot Roman day, around 90 degrees, and some of these pilgrims had walked for up to eight hours to get here. But still, the heat was no deterrent to the joy in the air.
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What was extraordinary about this event, the Jubilee of Youth, was that while there were well-known Christian artists performing, the young people hadn't come to see them. They were waiting to pray. Yes — pray!
And when, at 7:30 p.m., the roar of a helicopter was heard overhead, the crowd erupted. The white papal chopper had made the short journey from the Vatican and circled the crowd twice. 'Viva Papa,' they cheered.
Throwing up clouds of dust, the chopper was glowing in the evening sun as it landed. Then on the large screens, people watched as Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — emerged and boarded the Mercedes Popemobile.
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'Incredibly moving'
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After weaving through the crowd, going back and forth blessing the sea of people on either side, the pope took to the stage and led a two-hour, deeply spiritual prayer vigil.
The moment Pope Leo brought out the Eucharist, what Catholics believe is the real body of Jesus in the bread, 1 million young people suddenly fell silent, many on their knees with their eyes closed.
Fr. Vincent Bernhard, the university chaplain at NYU, who was there leading a pilgrimage of young men from across the US, was moved by that moment: 'It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. When I looked around, you could see everyone kneeling and looking in one direction. It was incredibly moving. Only the pope could do that. Make everyone stop and look towards Jesus.'
Something is changing in society when it comes to Gen Z and their relationship with religion. Their parents may have drifted from the Church — because of scandals, laziness, shifting priorities, etc.
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But from the young people I spoke to at Tor Vergata, I got a sense they are searching for deeper answers to life's oldest questions. This is something Pope Leo spoke to directly from the stage: 'There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: What is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? . . . Jesus is our hope.'
True meaning
Indeed, from traveling the world covering the Catholic Church and people's relationship with faith for EWTN, I think young people — especially — have been fed the lie that they'll find fulfillment in fame, fortune and followers.
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They've been encouraged to hang their identity on their career, on their social-media persona, and on their popularity. And while these things might offer instant, short-term gratification, more and more young people seem to be realizing that they don't lead to lasting, meaningful fulfillment.
When the three F's disappear — fame, fortune, followers — what gives your life fulfillment and meaning? Young people today are looking for meaning, and many are finding it in the tradition, culture and beauty of the Catholic Church.
For years it hasn't been 'cool' to be Catholic, or even easy to say you believe in God. But as with anything pushed aside or suppressed, sometimes the opposite happens — it re-emerges as something unexpected, something different. Something countercultural that intrigues young people and starts to draw them in again.
Cue the Jubilee of Youth, and a million young people on their knees in a field outside of Rome. Something profound is drawing them, and with the Catholic Church having a new, relatively young and timely pope who talks about social media, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, young people are engaged.
Found a home
As darkness fell over Tor Vergata, the choir sang, 'Jesus Christ, you are my life,' as the papal helicopter once again roared into the air and turned back toward Vatican City. One of the most powerful messages the pope left the young people with was, 'Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less.'
One of the young men with Fr. Vincent on pilgrimage was 19-year-old Marco Terrizzi from Illinois. He recently came into the faith and told me, 'This was sensational. I truly feel changed forever. I feel like I've found my forever home in the Catholic Church.'
Colm Flynn is a correspondent for EWTN, global Catholic television.