If parishes build it, the young will come – Gen Z asking deep questions about spirituality

In May, a major survey carried out by Amarach Research on behalf of the Iona Institute found that Gen Z respondents (18-24-years-olds) are a lot more open to religion than their Millennial counterparts (25-34-year-olds).

While  only 6% of those aged 25-34 consider themselves religious, this jumps to 17% among 18-24-year-olds. While this is markedly lower than those aged 50 and over, for once the trend is going in a positive direction.

Prior to the Iona research, another study in the UK, A Quiet Revival,  had found that over the past six years, Britain has seen a similar increase in church attendance among young people. In particular, the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds attending church regularly has risen from 4% in 2018 to 16%.

Now, the “Footprints: Young People, Faith, and Religious Experience” project, led by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce) in collaboration with researchers from eight other universities worldwide, has surveyed nearly 5,000 people aged 18 to 29 across eight countries. According to a report in The Pillar, the study found a general increase in interest in spirituality and religious practice among young people in those countries.

The full report will be published in October.

Spirituality

The Footprints study found that interest in spirituality has gone up in nearly all the countries surveyed with the exception of Italy. There has been a net increase in interest of 35%. The trend was particularly strong in Brazil, Kenya, and the Philippines.

Researchers measured this increase by asking detailed questions and by comparing results with earlier studies in each country.

Instead of just labelling people as “believers” or “non-believers,” the team used a broader set of categories. About a third of respondents fell into some kind of non-belief, but this included atheists (15%), agnostics (27%), indifferent, that is, people who not interested in the question of God (16%), leavers, who used to believe, but don’t anymore (14.1%),  and seekers, who are currently searching for belief in God (28%).

One surprising takeaway was many non-believers still engage in spiritual behaviour. Nearly half said they pray at least sometimes — 62% in moments of need, and 48% out of gratitude. Large numbers also believe in an afterlife (42%) or ask others to pray for them (37%).

In the study young Catholics were often at odds with the Church’s teachings on moral issues, expressing disagreement despite identifying as Catholic”

The most common reason for rejecting belief in God was the problem of suffering. Yet, interestingly, about a third of atheists said belonging to a religious community can help people cope with life’s challenges, and over a third thought believers handle suffering and death better.

In the study young Catholics were often at odds with the Church’s teachings on moral issues, expressing disagreement despite identifying as Catholic.

Most of those surveyed had a view of the Bible that was more in tune with the Reformation than Catholicism. 62% said anyone can read the Bible on their own and hear God speak directly, while just 25% backed the idea that interpretation should follow Church tradition and the Magisterium’s official teaching. Another 12% admitted they had never thought about the question. This underscores a growing generational move toward individual faith approaches and away from being a faithful member of a community..

There were some puzzling and even contradictory views. Nearly 7 in 10 say you don’t need to attend Mass to be a good Christian, and while 72% believe marriage is a lifelong help for love, almost half think it adds nothing to a couple’s bond. The same contradictions show up in sexual ethics: 73% say there’s no right or wrong way to experience sexuality, yet 73.5% call pornography harmful and 45% say contraception can damage intimacy.

The overall picture seems to be that young people are more open to spirituality, but are confused and quite individualised in the way they interpret spirituality.

Earlier research in the UK by Sylvia Collins Mayo, published in Making Sense of Generation Y (Millennials) also found that they had no problem mixing views like reincarnation and ghosts with more mainstream Christian views.

Anecdotal

In my own anecdotal experience as a teacher of religion for many years, students regularly mixed and matched their beliefs even when they were internally contradictory. For example, they seem to have no problem simultaneously believing that the soul was eternally recycled in reincarnation while also believing each of us is unique and created by God.

Good catechesis is badly needed. Still, openness to spirituality can be built upon. Some researchers feel that this openness was deepened during the pandemic. With lots of time to reflect, Gen Z found itself asking deeper questions and not finding answers that satisfied them.

The real challenge is to tempt them out of their chronically online existence in order to experience the support and messiness of a real human community. While some movements and university chaplaincies are succeeding in creating real-life bonds, parishes are generally less successful.