Until recently, Sara Cabral’s experience with faith was similar to many Southern European youth — she was raised Catholic but did not practice. Her lifestyle on the Canary Islands of Spain rarely involved religious activities. However, a song from a youth faith group profoundly affected her, making her feel as though it was God speaking to her. She joined the group and now eagerly anticipates attending Pope Leo XIV’s Mass in Gran Canaria with friends. Cabral, 26, described her renewed embrace of Catholicism, saying, “You get a restlessness about an emptiness that you don’t know how to fill. God is the one looking for you first, but you need to go meet him.”
Pope Leo XIV will visit Spain and France soon, where he will encounter thousands of young people in historically Catholic yet increasingly secular countries with numerous old churches but sparse Mass attendance. Church leaders and experts recognize the success of youth movements and an increase in adult baptisms as indications that some young people are interested in the church. They challenge the church to deliver a more inclusive message. Rev. Josetxo Vera, spokesperson for Spain’s Catholic Bishops Conference, noted, “They are drawing near with a look of surprise. It’s an excellent opportunity that bursts forth from heaven, not from the church.”
The decline in religious practice has created a blank slate for new opportunities. Vera is aware of teenagers alarming atheist parents by requesting baptism after encountering Christian messages spread in popular culture, such as the spirituality-infused album Lux by Catalan pop star Rosalía. These youths are approaching faith in an environment vastly different from that of their parents and grandparents. Spain was ruled by dictator Gen. Francisco Franco until 1975, who aligned with a deeply traditional Catholic Church. As Spain transitioned to democracy, there was a “divorce between popular piety and the church’s religious culture,” explained Mónica Cornejo Valle, a religion professor at Complutense University in Madrid.
Despite the continuation of popular religious processions and feasts across most Spanish regions, finding areas without markers of Spain’s vital role in Catholicism’s history is challenging. Nearly 23,000 active Catholic parishes exist, yet new priestly ordinations are scarce. According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2024, 80% of Spanish adults were raised Catholic, but only 47% now identify as such. Additionally, just 16% of Spanish Catholics attend Mass weekly, a requirement for practicing the faith.
One of Cabral’s friends, José María Marrero, recollects attending Mass as a child with his mother, only encountering elderly attendees. His wife, baptized in her early 20s, recounted students on a trip asking about a picture of Jesus, saying, “Miss, that’s the Catholic one, right?” Scholars like Cornejo Valle caution that perceived religious revival may stem from a “publicity effect” through astute use of media and popular culture.
Youth movement and church leaders see potential in this blank slate, especially if they present Jesus’ message in a joyous and understandable manner, as Cabral emphasizes. This approach characterizes Hakuna, a group Cabral and around 35,000 youths are affiliated with. Hakuna began in the early 2010s in a Madrid parish, where a group of college students initiated weekly Eucharistic adoration, accompanied by a lecture and social interaction at a local bar. Hakuna became an official lay group in Spain’s church in 2017 and has expanded to include volunteer trips and concerts, with seven Christian music albums, as noted by spokeswoman Maca Torres.
Torres remarked, “It’s the Holy Spirit, we’re the first to be surprised” by the movement’s success, highlighting that most members previously ceased practicing; however, there are some converts. In Catholicism, infants typically receive baptism. Nevertheless, Spain’s Catholic bishops’ latest report counts over 13,300 baptisms of individuals older than 7. France, a nation with contested secularism due to stringent regulation of public religion, saw approximately 13,000 adults baptized during the Easter Vigil this year, 42% aged 18 to 25. This figure marks a tripling of baptisms in the past decade, according to France’s Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Last summer at the Vatican, Pope Leo encouraged baptism candidates and the newly baptized from France to share their experiences of faith, guiding their daily lives. “What a joy to see young people who are engaging with faith and want to give a sense to their life, by letting themselves be guided by Christ and his Gospel,” Leo proclaimed. Experts suggest the appeal for young individuals lies in disillusionment with other institutions and life’s increasing loneliness on social media, paired with the church’s emphasis on social justice rather than doctrine, beginning with Pope Francis.
On June 6, the first day of his Spain trip, Leo will lead a youth prayer vigil in a prominent Madrid square. He will also visit a migrant center in the Canary Islands and a prison near Barcelona, initiatives attracting progressive youth. Cornejo Valle noted that while Catholic youth numbers may not have significantly surged, the profile of Catholic youth demonstrates increased commitment compared to previous generations.
Many young people, including María Salazar, 23, who leads Barcelona’s Effetá chapter of the global Catholic youth movement, seek spirituality both inside and outside the church. Salazar stated, “More than looking for faith, we look for a feeling of peace.” She highlights that people desire immediacy in society, yet the Lord takes a different approach. Salazar noted a “boom of youth” at her parish, Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece and one of Europe’s most visited monuments.
Over 120 youths attend adoration and weekend spiritual retreats, with initial organizers, volunteers, and Sagrada Familia’s rector staying up late to prepare for church events. Volunteers support elderly attendees at Mass and international tourists at services in the basilica above, where the pope will lead a Mass and inaugurate the new Jesus Christ tower on June 10. “We’re going to have him here at home,” Salazar said delightedly, referring to Pope Leo’s visit. “I see the tower from afar and I see the home that God gave us.”