Will the Revival of Religion in the West Be Short-Lived?
Translated by ChatGPT
Lianhe Zaobao 2026-10-18
Author: Ye Pengfei 叶鹏飞 (Lianhe Zaobao Opinion Editor)
“Secularisation, which shifted the focus from God to the individual, had some progressive significance 500 years ago. But there is only a fine line between freedom without God and individual indulgence. Taken to the extreme, it often leads to self-centredness and even narcissism that disregards objective facts.”
Pope Leo XIV made his first official visit to France in 18 years from September 25 to 28. France has long been known as “the eldest daughter of the Church”. An open-air Mass at Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Élysées in Paris was estimated to have attracted about 700,000 people. A youth prayer gathering held on the evening of September 25 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, drew a total of 80,000 young people aged 17 to 35. This stood in stark contrast to the performance during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, widely interpreted as mocking the Christian biblical scene of The Last Supper. Although the Olympic organisers eventually apologised under public pressure, some interpreted the controversy as a concentrated expression of France’s radical secularism.
One of the main themes of Leo XIV’s remarks during his visit appeared to be an attempt to reconcile the tension between the secular values enshrined in the French Constitution and religious belief. He sought to link France’s national ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity with the Christian Gospel, while directly addressing the principle of the separation of church and state. When meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, civil authorities, representatives of civil society and members of the diplomatic corps at the Élysée Palace, he said: “Christians who devote themselves to public life and act according to a conscience illuminated by faith cannot be regarded as proselytisers, nor can they be seen as a threat to national unity. True secularism does not exclude religion; rather, it is able to value it as an educational resource.” He also said that France’s soul had drawn “spiritual, cultural, intellectual and artistic inspiration, as well as missionary talent” from Christianity, and that it continued to radiate these qualities to the world today.
After several centuries of anti-religious secularisation following the French Revolution, France today appears to be witnessing the early signs of a revival of religious faith. Data from the French Bishops’ Conference show that approximately 4,124 adults were baptised in 2016, compared with 13,234 in 2026, more than tripling over the decade and representing an increase of about 28% from the previous year. Those aged 18 to 25 have become the largest group among adult catechumens, accounting for approximately 42%. Their numbers began accelerating mainly after 2022 to 2023, rather than reflecting people making up for baptisms missed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Pilgrimage numbers have also reached record highs. While the number of adults and adolescents receiving baptism after completing catechumenal preparation has risen, sales of the Bible have increased sharply by 20% since 2024. Some reports indicate that annual growth in recent years has reached approximately 15%, with about 500,000 copies sold nationwide each year. French media have described this phenomenon as “Bible fever”. Sales of versions aimed at young people, such as Bible comic books, have also increased.
However, these signs pointing towards a religious revival may reveal only part of the truth. Increased Bible sales do not necessarily mean that the number of people who read the Bible or pray daily has risen correspondingly. Compared with the decline in the number of French children being baptised, the increase in adult baptisms has not been enough to reverse the contraction of Catholicism in France. In the 1960s, approximately 93% of French infants were baptised within three months of birth. Today, the proportion baptised before the age of seven has fallen to below approximately 20%. With the large influx of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as differences in fertility rates, Islam has now become France’s second-largest religion. Yet this may also be one reason why Catholicism is showing signs of revival: some French people are using it as a political means of affirming their cultural identity.
Political motives, however, cannot truly explain or sustain a revival of faith. A survey of catechumens conducted by the French Bishops’ Conference found that French people’s renewed examination of religious belief stems more from personal factors. About 40% had become conscious of the fragility of life because of illness, bereavement or similar experiences; approximately 34% were reconsidering their faith after questioning Christian teachings; and around 32% had experienced powerful spiritual encounters in their lives. In addition, individualism and loneliness have created a need for community and stability; anxiety arising from war, artificial intelligence and uncertainty about the future has also played a role; and priests’ social media content and Gospel-related material aimed at young people have attracted people back to religion. Compared with infant baptism, which is rooted in family tradition, today’s return to faith based on personal and autonomous choice may possess greater vitality. Similar phenomena are also appearing in other European countries and the United States.
Some commentators believe that the trend towards secularisation that emerged in Western history with the Renaissance in the 16th century — the shift in focus from God to the individual, the growing emphasis on reason, and the questioning of the medieval values of renouncing the world and practising abstinence — appears to have reached a critical turning point in this era of highly advanced material prosperity. Although the disenchantment brought about by secularisation gave rise to the scientific and industrial revolutions driven by reason, and, alongside Western colonialism and capitalism, enabled unprecedentedly rapid development in material civilisation around the world, disenchantment has also flattened humanity’s worldview. The essential sacredness of life, together with the corresponding sense of morality, has gradually been eroded.
Secularisation, which shifted the focus from God to the individual, had some progressive significance 500 years ago. But there is only a fine line between freedom without God and individual indulgence. Taken to the extreme, it often leads to self-centredness and even narcissism that disregards objective facts. The widespread inflation of rights consciousness in developed societies today has already threatened the basic order of civilisation. Compared with the previous one or two generations, contemporary human interactions, words and behaviour increasingly display a coarseness that sometimes borders on barbarism. What Xunzi described as the signs of a chaotic age may depict this disorder:
“The signs of a chaotic age are these: its clothing is elaborate, its appearance feminine, its customs licentious, its ambitions profit-seeking, its conduct disorderly, its music dangerous, its writings obscure yet ornate, its pursuit of health without restraint, and its funeral practices impoverished and miserly. It despises ritual and righteousness while valuing courage and brute force. When poor, people become thieves; when rich, they become bandits. A well-governed age is the opposite.”
In this sense, the nascent religious revival in Western societies today may be understood as a backlash against an excessively materialistic way of life. There may also be an underlying drive towards self-redemption. According to a 2025 report by the World Health Organization, approximately one in every seven people worldwide is living with a mental disorder, bringing the total to more than one billion. Anxiety and depression account for the majority of cases. Overall, rates are higher among women than men, prevalence is relatively high among those aged 40 to 44, and the largest increase since 2011 has occurred among those aged 20 to 29. The social disconnection caused by restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic cannot fully explain this phenomenon. The spiritual barrenness of contemporary life is more likely to be one of its deeper causes.
A Vatican announcement stated that the official motto and central theme of Leo XIV’s pastoral visit to France was “That the World May Have Life” (Chapter 6, Verse 51 of the Gospel of John). The enthusiastic response from the French public demonstrates the secular world’s yearning for a rebirth of spiritual life. However, obstacles and wrong turns are everywhere. How Western secular elites view the religious revival, and whether Western populations equate a return to faith with a civilisational war that rejects people of other religions, could cause these noble aspirations to come to nothing or even produce the opposite effect. Let us hope that enough good-hearted people will persevere in their efforts, work together to bring an end to this chaotic age, and usher in an era of good governance and peace.
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