From the collective grief for Pope Francis to the enthusiasm for Pope Leo XIV: a faith that resists statistics. Italy, between nostalgia for the sacred and the need for meaning, shows that secularization is not a destiny, but a narrative that needs to be revisited.
They said we no longer believe, that the churches are empty and the young people are disillusioned. Yet, millions flocked to St. Peter's Square to bid a final farewell to Pope Francis, and millions more passionately followed the election of Leo XIV. Is ours truly a secularized society? Or is religion simply changing its face, language, and places, bringing with it new signs of the human desire to belong, to hope, to believe?
A people in the square, despite everything
Pope Francis's funeral, held on April 25, 2025, attracted more than three million people, including pilgrims, citizens, heads of state, and the merely curious. The live television and digital broadcasts attracted over 110 million viewers worldwide, including more than 8 million in Italy in the first 24 hours alone. This is a surprising figure, considering that for years there has been talk of the "end of popular Catholicism." So who are all these people, and why are they gathering?
It's not just habit: it's a need for faith
Classical sociology spoke of religion as a "total social fact" (Mauss), destined, however, to dissolve with progress. But today the opposite is true: in a fluid and insecure world, religion reemerges as an identity-building and relational need . According to the latest CENSIS report (2024), over 48% of Italians continue to define themselves as "believers" in the traditional sense, but it is in moments of collective crisis that religious identity reveals itself even in those who do not attend. It is the need for community, not obligation, that brings people back to the streets.
Faith transforms, it doesn't disappear
Perhaps it's not religion itself that's in crisis, but some of its twentieth-century forms. "Generalist" Catholicism has given way to more intense, personal, or identity-based experiences : from the return to the ancient rite to the charismatic, from online spiritual journeys to local communities. In 2023, ISTAT recorded that, despite decreasing weekly Mass attendance (28% among those over 65, 9% among 18-29 year-olds), digital access to religious content is increasing, and prayer groups among young people are multiplying.
Pope Leo XIV, the face of hope
The election of Pope Leo XIV revealed another phenomenon: the search for authenticity. Robert Prevost was perceived as a man of genuine life, a man of faith lived among the people, thanks in part to his missionary and family history. In a hyper-connected world distrustful of elites, the people seek witnesses more than leaders, fathers more than managers. The peak audience during the Mass marking the inauguration of his pontificate (over 9 million in Italy, according to Auditel and Rai Vaticano) confirms this.
The Role of the Media for Faith: New Pulpits, New Rites
Religion isn't disappearing, but it's shifting. It's no longer confined to the parish, but to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where homilies, Gospel commentaries, and digital prayers garner six-figure numbers. Media sociology today speaks of "mediatized transcendence": what was once the heritage of the nave now passes through feeds and hashtags. The digital liturgy doesn't replace the altar, but prepares it, interprets it, and accompanies it.
More than secularization: disintermediation
Upon closer inspection, the dominant process isn't secularization in the strict sense, but disintermediation. Italians don't reject their faith, but rather want to live it outside of imposed institutional models. The most interesting finding? According to research by the University of Milan-Bicocca (2024), 31% of those under 35 say they are "spiritual but not religious," while 22% say they pray regularly, despite not participating in church life. This is a departure not from faith, but from certain historical forms.
The sacred remains, but its face changes
The death of one Pope and the birth of another have mirrored a society still driven by a longing for the sacred, for meaning, for a shared destiny. Religiosity has not ended, but it has transformed into a more complex fabric: less institutional, more affective; less obligatory, more sought after . We are not experiencing the end of religion, but the beginning of a post-secular era. And if the Church can listen to this hunger for meaning, even what seemed like secularization will perhaps reveal itself as a thirst for God.
Alfonso Bruno
References:
- Berger, P.L. and Luckmann T. The Hum of Angels: The Sacred in Contemporary Society, Bologna, The Mill, 1970.
- Garelli, F. (2020). People of Little Faith. Religious Sentiment in an Italy Uncertain of God.. Bologna: The Mill.
Mancini, S. (2023). Religion in the post-secular worldRome: Carocci. - Greeley A. M., Non-Secular Man. The Persistence of Religion, Queriniana, Brescia 1975
- Istat – Data on religiosity and religious practice in Italy:
https://www.istat.it/it/religione-e-pratica-religiosa
