Gen Z, digital natives, now tops church attendance at 1.9 times/month, drawn by authenticity, St. Carlo Acutis’ influence, and rejection of relativism.
Newsroom (12/11/2025 Gaudium Press ) In an era defined by screens and instant connectivity, Generation Z—born between 1997 and 2012, comprising nearly a quarter of the global population—has long been dubbed “digital natives.” In the United States, this under-30 cohort boasts 97% smartphone ownership, with six in 10 reporting they use the internet “almost constantly,” according to Pew Research Center data. Yet, amid this virtual saturation, a profound countertrend is unfolding: Gen Z is flocking to in-person worship, leading a resurgence in Christian church attendance that outpaces older generations.
Fresh findings from the Barna Group, a premier research firm examining faith and culture, reveal that Gen Z now averages 1.9 church visits per month, equating to nearly 23 services annually. This marks a notable leap from 2020, when younger generations attended just over once monthly, to nearly twice in 2025. Millennials (born 1981-1996) follow closely at 1.8 visits per month, or about 22 services yearly. Generation X (1965-1980) lags at 1.6 monthly, averaging 19 annually—a stasis reminiscent of their 2000 patterns—while Baby Boomers (1946-1964) and elders attend 1.4 times monthly, or under 17 services out of 52 Sundays.
Barna attributes part of Gen Z’s shift to adulthood autonomy: as children, they mirrored parental habits, but now independently choose pews over pixels. This uptick signals hope amid broader declines; Pew’s 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study shows only 45% of under-30 adults identifying as Christian—14% Catholic—with 44% religiously unaffiliated. Attendance, Barna cautions, does not guarantee discipleship, yet it heralds a thirst for communal sacramentality.
Catholic voices hail this as providential. John Donahue, founder of Truth Charting, a Gen Z-focused Catholic media ministry, expressed awe to OSV News: “I always had a feeling and a hope that something like this would happen with my generation. But I was definitely surprised that it happened so soon.” He credits a “digital Catholic Renaissance,” spurred by St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), the recently canonized teen who harnessed early internet tools to evangelize Eucharistic devotion. “About three years ago… I don’t remember a whole lot of movement like there is today on social media,” Donahue recalled. “This uprising—honestly, I do think Carlo Acutis… had a really big role.”
Social media now teems with Catholic creators, forming a niche genre of hundreds. Gen Z’s premium on authenticity—shunning “corporate talk” and “PR spin”—aligns seamlessly with Church doctrine, Donahue explained: teachings are “well thought out and expertly presented—with charity, but… no room for fakeness.”
Monét Souza, 28, founder of A Message of Hope ministry for high school and college Catholics, echoes this. “There’s so much of, ‘Whatever truth you want can be your truth’—it’s all this relativism,” she told OSV News. Fed up with cultural relativism infiltrating schools and feeds, young adults seek accountability and objective truth. “This age group… are just really getting fed up with this lack of truth,” Souza said. “They can just take a breath and be like, ‘Hey, this is a place I can come and receive a truth that I’m not receiving anywhere else.'” She ponders divine intervention: “Is this something the Holy Spirit has done… or is it something that the church is doing?”
Amie Duke, 27, social media manager at Ascension Press—home to Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast—sees a narrative pivot. “For years… young people are leaving the faith, which is still true,” she noted. “But maybe the story now is that we’re looking for something real… truth, and purpose, and community.” Gen Z’s queries have evolved: no longer “Is God real?” but “Is he good? And does he care for me?” Amid disasters, depression, and doomscrolling, the Church offers answers.
Sustaining this momentum demands digital discipleship. “How do we reach these young people outside of just church on Sunday?” Duke asked. Ascension’s decade-plus efforts insert Gospel reminders into feeds—homilies, affirmations of God’s love—to extend Sunday’s grace weekday. “Offering those faith formation opportunities outside the Sunday Mass is vital,” she affirmed.
In this fusion of faith and firmware, Gen Z embodies a return to roots: sacraments as antidote to isolation, truth as anchor in turbulence. Guided by saints like Acutis and fueled by the Spirit, their attendance surge whispers of revival—a beacon for the universal Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files form OSV News
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