Good afternoon, and many thanks to the Danube Institute for its kind invitation. 

The various aspects of the ongoing cultural and demographic crisis have already been brilliantly explored by previous speakers, so I’d like to take a different angle to feed the conversation — that of my on-the-ground experience as a journalist covering Europe for EWTN. My Catholic perspective on today’s world allows me to observe both the profound challenges we face and the surprising signs of renewal that are already emerging.

The Failure of Intra-Family Transmission

Jonathan Price has just emphasized that populism — like any other political doctrine — cannot replace pietàs, cannot substitute for transcendence, in fostering the re-emergence of a truly fruitful civilization. What I’ve observed in my reporting is that the intrinsic beauty of a religion’s principles — its intellectual richness, its depth and its power of conviction — is not, in itself, enough to secure its survival or determine its social success.

From a societal standpoint, religion is first and foremost an inherited culture. Family culture is the essential matrix for the transmission of faith. And it is precisely in this area that Christians — especially Catholics — are currently the least successful in Europe.

I will refer to France several times during this brief presentation, as it offers a particularly compelling case study for understanding the issues at stake and the factors to be taken into account when developing long-term strategies. France is emblematic of the breakdown of the family, de-Christianization and the rapid spread of Islam.

A recent study by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies showed, in fact, that the generational transmission rate for Islam is 91%, 84% for Jews and only 67% for Catholics.

This same dynamic can be observed throughout Western Europe, with a few exceptions such as Portugal, which still enjoys fairly strong intra-family transmission. But even Italy, which has always excelled in this area and had resisted de-Christianization fairly well until the last decade, has experienced a spectacular upheaval following COVID-19, with a drop in religious practice of 25% between 2020 and 2022 alone. This has revealed the fragility of the country’s religious foundations.

By contrast, among the most observant Catholic families — especially the so-called “Trad Catholics” — transmission rates are significantly higher. This suggests that the survival of Christianity in Europe will likely depend on families who deliberately nurture, cultivate and protect their faith.

The Paradoxical Effect of a Survival Logic

On the one hand, we are confronted with alarming data: nonreligious individuals and Muslims may soon represent the majority across Europe — a continent whose very foundations are inseparable from Christianity.

On the other hand, this unprecedented challenge appears to be awakening a kind of existential reflex among many Europeans. A “survival logic” is being triggered by the growing awareness of becoming a cultural and spiritual minority in the land of one’s ancestors. And this is giving rise to a rather unexpected renewal of faith.

We are witnessing signs of religious reawakening precisely in the places once thought to be bastions of secular progressivism. Sweden, Norway and France — nations that have long led the march toward de-Christianization — are now experiencing a renewed interest in Christianity, and in particular, traditional Catholicism. While this is a very recent trend and comprehensive figures are still scarce, the shift is unmistakable to those with firsthand experience on the ground.

In Norway, this is not a totally new phenomenon: Data from a government statistical agency has revealed that registered Catholics have risen from 95,000 in 2015 to over 160,000 in 2019. And this rise is not just attributable to immigration — often Polish or Lithuanian — but includes a notable number of young locals in search of a deeper meaning to their lives. 

A key factor behind this shift is, of course, the presence of Islam in Europe. Its visibility is prompting many young people of Christian heritage to reconsider their own religious identity. This phenomenon is reflected in the success of traditional Christian initiatives that demand spiritual and even physical rigor — like Exodus 90, a Lenten challenge designed for men, which promotes a highly ascetic lifestyle.

Another example is the Pentecost pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres, which draws thousands of devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass. With nearly 20,000 participants annually, the pilgrimage has grown so rapidly that many applications are now turned down for safety reasons.

We are also witnessing a surge in Lenten observance, particularly on social media. We could see countless influencers proudly displaying the cross on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, for instance. Numerous reports noted that churches across France were completely packed on that day — which was an unprecedented phenomenon.

This increased participation is clearly linked to the growing public visibility of Ramadan. Young Catholics feel an urge to make their faith more visible as well. If they are Christians, they want it to show. They reject lukewarmness. And this desire for bold spiritual expression is unique to this emerging generation.

Equally telling is the boom in adult baptisms among 18- to 24-year-olds in France. According to recent official statistics, the number of baptisms rose by 28% in 2023 and over 30% in 2024, with new records expected this year. Ahead of Easter last year, I interviewed Father Ramzi Saadé, a Lebanese priest in charge of catechumens who are ex-Muslim converts to Christianity in the Paris region. He explained that many convert in secret due to fear of reprisals from their families, which means official figures understate the true trend. But he estimates that nearly 20% of the newly baptized in Paris each year are of Islamic origin.

These very rapid evolutions, which mainly concern young people, show that sociological predictions of the decline of Christianity in Europe, however alarming and likely they may be, are not certain and definitive. The trend could also be rapidly reversed by a subsequent return of traditional faith — through the triptych of transcendence, coherence and exigency — that is so appealing to an increasing part of young Europeans.

The Challenge for Families and Leaders

Yet, another crucial point that should be addressed is that men are disproportionately drawn to this renewed and more rigorous form of Christianity, which is also more easily transmissible between generations. In contrast, women tend to be more drawn to “left-leaning” spiritual alternatives such as New Age practices or neo-pagan movements like Wicca, which they see as more compatible with feminist values.

In the minds of many women today, Christianity is closely associated with patriarchy, conservatism and historical oppression. But anyone familiar with the history of Christendom knows that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Scholars such as Rodney Stark and the great French historian Régine Pernoud have demonstrated that Christianity played a foundational role in the emancipation of women in Antiquity. The Middle Ages, in particular, saw women enjoying unparalleled autonomy and influence, engaging in the same professions as men and even reaching adulthood earlier than their male counterparts. 

It was the Renaissance and the bourgeois values of the 19th century — ironically, a period when the Church’s influence was waning — that confined women to more restrictive roles and eroded their status. Far from suppressing women, Christianity historically served as a force for their dignity and empowerment.

This reality must be reclaimed in contemporary discourse. Christian leaders, intellectuals and cultural actors must recognize the need to offer both men and women a compelling vision of religious belonging. Without this, the family transmission dynamic cannot be restored. Christianity once held the keys to human flourishing for both sexes, outside the binaries of modern feminism and its Marxist rhetoric or the reactionary “red pill” movement. Perhaps it is time to rediscover — and rearticulate — this lost treasure.

Conclusion

The question is not whether faith is returning — it already is. The real question is whether our Western societies, our institutions, are ready to welcome it.

In this regard, the media has a critical role to play. That is precisely what a network like EWTN is striving to do: help shape a culture that can once again sustain Christian life and values. In this sense, I am convinced that Christianity has not said its last word.

Let me conclude with a reference to André Malraux, the celebrated Minister of Culture under General de Gaulle. The widely quoted statement — “the 21st century will be religious or it will not be at all” — is likely apocryphal, but it captures the essence of an interesting theory of his.

Though not a believer himself, Malraux understood that without a shared sense of transcendence and purpose, civilizations are prone to self-destruction. In a 1975 letter, he envisioned the coming century as a time that could witness “a great spiritual movement, probably a metamorphosis of Christianity.” He compared this potential transformation to the one Christianity itself underwent in its early centuries.

Could we now be on the brink of such a metamorphosis? The growing appeal of traditional Christianity among young Europeans, the resurgence of pilgrimages, and the renewed interest in Catholic intellectual and mystical traditions all suggest that something profound is taking shape.

But if Christianity is to regain its footing, it must restore the primacy of family-based transmission and rediscover a strong collective religious identity. Spiritual renewal must be accompanied by structural renewal. None of these encouraging trends will bear lasting fruit without a solid rebuilding of the family.