Newsroom (18/02/2026 11:12, Gaudium Press) During the New York Encounter last weekend, leading academics, priests, and communicators gathered in the United States to discuss a question gaining attention: Are we witnessing a Catholic revival, a spiritual renaissance, or merely a pause in secularism’s advance?
“Change is in the air. For decades, many believed that universal well-being could be achieved simply through economic growth, open borders, and technological innovation. Today, that belief is faltering,” said the presentation text for the encounter, quoting poet and philosopher David Whyte.
“In a world of isolated global consumers, an essential aspect of being human is reemerging: the deep need for places of belonging.”
The context
The New York Encounter, organized by members of the Communion and Liberation movement, has established itself since 2009 as one of the main spaces for cultural and spiritual dialogue in the country. This year, its star debate revolved around a phenomenon that some sociologists and communicators are already calling “the Catholic turn.”
The question was straightforward: Is there really a religious awakening in the United States, or simply a slowdown in the process of de-Christianization?
Speakers included sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan, Chip Rotolo of the Pew Research Center, author Justin Brierley, and journalist Lauren Jackson, a columnist for The New York Times. They all agreed on one point: although talk of a resurgence of faith may have been exaggerated, current data points to a more complex and promising reality.
Reasons for cautious optimism
Rotolo, a researcher at the Pew Research Center, presented figures that show an unexpected trend: although the proportion of American adults who identify as Christian has fallen from 78% in 2007 to 63% today, that figure has remained stable since 2020.
“The fact that the religious decline we are so accustomed to seeing has stabilized is a big change,” he explained.
According to the researcher, this trend began precisely during the COVID pandemic, when a massive departure from churches was expected. “If you already had one foot out the door of your church, it would have been easy to walk away. But we have seen this remarkable stability. That has generated a lot of attention, curiosity, and hope,” he said.
Rotolo summed it up in a sentence that highlighted the tone of the day: “The decline has stopped. And that, in itself, is a sign of hope.”
The rise of the spiritual but not religious
Another notable observation was that of those who define themselves as spiritual but not religious, an increasingly common category. According to Pew studies, 92% of Americans express some spiritual perspective, meaning they believe at least one of the following statements: that people have souls, that God exists, that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, or that there is life after death.
“Without a doubt, something is changing in American religious life,” Rotolo said. “We may disagree on what exactly it is, but it is certainly an interesting time to study.”
Atheism in decline
Justin Brierley, author of The Surprising Revival of Belief in God, noted that the New Atheism that dominated the intellectual scene in the 2000s has lost much of its momentum.
“In 2010, intellectuals began to emerge who recognized the role of Christianity in shaping Western civilization,” he explained. “Some even went from being critics to believers.”
He mentioned the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born writer and former advocate of atheism, who in 2023 published a viral essay titled Why I Am Now a Christian.
“When she published that article, many people said, ‘If Ayaan Hirsi Ali—arguably one of the world’s most prominent former atheists—changed her mind, it could happen to anyone,’” Brierley recalled.
New York Times journalist Lauren Jackson shared the findings of the Believe series, an extensive investigation into the state of religion in the United States.
“We compiled all this data and concluded that Americans have not found a satisfactory alternative to religion,” she said.
According to Jackson, most interviewees express “an intense desire for belonging, meaning, community, and connection with the transcendent.”
However, she clarified that this search does not always involve traditional churches, but is channeled through diverse communities, spiritual practices, or cultural movements.
Religious renaissance or new starting point?
Although none of the experts asserted that a religious renaissance is conclusively happening, they agreed that shifts in spiritual sensibility may signal the beginnings of renewed religious interest. The main argument presented is that a noticeable, though cautious, turn towards spirituality is underway, visible in both data and cultural attitudes.
After decades of rapid secularization, people seem to be turning back to the spiritual dimension with a mixture of caution and hope.
“Postmodernity promised us total freedom, but it left us more alone,” concluded one of the participants. “When we look at where culture, science, and technology have really taken us, we discover that we have become unhappier. And that dissatisfaction is reopening our hearts to God.”
With information from Religión en Libertad
Compiled by Dominic Joseph
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