The Quiet Revival: How Gen Z Is Rediscovering Faith

Economic uncertainty, cultural disillusionment, and digital saturation have left many young people feeling unanchored. Amidst this, an unexpected trend is quietly gathering pace: a revival of interest in Christianity and Catholicism among Gen Z and Millennials. Not necessarily the fire-and-brimstone sermons of old, but a more curious, searching return to ritual, tradition, and belief systems that offer structure in a time when so little feels stable.

In the past year, data has started to reflect this shift. In the UK, weekly attendance at Church of England services among children under 16 rose by nearly 6%, defying the long-term trend of decline. In the United States, Gen Z men are now more likely than their Millennial and Gen X counterparts to attend weekly religious services. These aren’t just nostalgic gestures, they suggest a real and growing appetite for something beyond the self.

The death of Pope Francis in April 2025 brought this into even sharper focus. Within hours, social media was saturated. “RIP Pope Francis” trended globally, drawing millions into a moment that felt both ancient and deeply modern. TikTok and Instagram were flooded with posts, some devotional, others aesthetic, many reflective. Young Catholics filmed themselves attending memorial Masses, discussing the papal conclave, and revisiting the late pontiff’s teachings. What might once have been seen as niche religious observance suddenly became a widely shared moment of reflection and, for some, reconnection.

This re-engagement isn’t happening in churches alone. You can see it in culture, fashion, and media. Take the Met Gala’s 2018 “Heavenly Bodies” theme: a display of Catholic iconography rendered in silk, velvet, and gold leaf. While not explicitly religious, it marked a clear moment where sacred symbolism returned to the cultural forefront. Since then, religious motifs, rosaries, crucifixes, veils, have trickled down from haute couture to high street, worn sometimes for irony, sometimes for aesthetics, and increasingly, for meaning.

The broader context helps explain the appeal. For a generation facing a cost-of-living crisis, environmental breakdown, and a relentless sense of digital overload, religion offers not only spiritual engagement but also rhythm, community, and clarity. It’s not about rejecting modernity wholesale, but about finding spaces where permanence still exists, where rituals aren’t up for interpretation, and where meaning isn’t dictated by an algorithm.

Certain public figures have further normalised this return to faith. Justin Bieber’s vocal embrace of Christianity, for instance, has shifted perceptions around religion in celebrity culture. Rather than something hidden or awkward, belief is becoming part of the public narrative again, part of how people navigate their identity.

This revival is nuanced. It doesn’t signal a wholesale return to conservative doctrine, nor a mass exodus from secularism. But it does point to a cultural moment where religion, once thought irrelevant by many in the digital age, is being reconsidered, not out of obligation, but from a desire to find something solid. Something that outlasts the scroll.

Written by Vanessa Twerefou