{"id":2055,"date":"2026-06-01T06:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:34:17","slug":"returning-to-the-fold-some-young-spaniards-embrace-catholicism-and-cant-wait-for-pope-leos-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055","title":{"rendered":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Until three years ago, Sara Cabral\u2019s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European youth \u2014 a \u201cCatholic but never practicing\u201d upbringing with little relevance to her life on Spain\u2019s Canary Islands. <\/p>\n

Read more Pulisic ends scoring drought, has goal and assist as Americans beat Senegal 3-2 in World Cup warmup<\/a><\/p>\n

Then she listened to a song from a faith youth group that felt as if God were speaking to her. She joined the group, and now in addition to its weekly adoration with music sessions, Cabral is excitedly preparing to attend Pope Leo XIV \u2019s Mass in Gran Canaria with her friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get a restlessness about an emptiness that you don\u2019t know how to fill,\u201d Cabral, 26, says of her embrace of Catholicism. \u201cGod is the one looking for you first, but you need to go meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On trips to Spain this month and France in September, Leo will find thousands of young people like her in these traditionally Catholic but now staunchly secular countries, where historic churches are abundant and Mass attendance is sparse.<\/p>\n

Church leaders and some experts see the success of youth movements and the surge in adult baptisms as signs that some young people are showing new interest in the church, while also challenging it to embrace a more inclusive message.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are drawing near with a look of surprise,\u201d said the Rev. Josetxo Vera, spokesperson for Spain\u2019s Catholic Bishops Conference. \u201cIt\u2019s an excellent opportunity that bursts forth from heaven, not from the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

A drop in faith practice creates a blank slate<\/h3>\n

Vera has seen many teens \u201cscare\u201d their atheist parents by asking to be baptized after becoming aware of, and attracted to, Christian messages spread in popular culture \u2014 like Catalan pop star Rosal\u00eda and her recent, spirituality-infused album Lux.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re approaching faith in a drastically different environment than their parents and grandparents.<\/p>\n

Until 1975, Spain was ruled by dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, who aligned with a deeply traditional Catholic Church still reeling from the anticlerical violence of Spain\u2019s civil war. Becoming a democracy, the country saw \u201ca kind of divorce between popular piety and the church\u2019s religious culture,\u201d said M\u00f3nica Cornejo Valle, a religion professor at Complutense University in Madrid.<\/p>\n

Wildly popular religious processions and feasts have continued to be held in most Spanish regions and it\u2019s hard to find a neighborhood or hamlet without some visible vestige of Spain\u2019s outsized importance in the global history of the spread of Catholicism.<\/p>\n

There are nearly 23,000 active Catholic parishes \u2014 but new priestly ordinations haven\u2019t started to bounce back. Most Spanish adults, 80%, were raised Catholic but only 47% currently identify as such, including a meager 2% who joined the faith from non-Catholic upbringings, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2024.<\/p>\n

Only about 16% of Spanish Catholics go to Mass at least weekly, according to the 2024 Pew survey, even though it\u2019s an obligation for those practicing the faith.<\/p>\n

One of Cabral\u2019s friends in Gran Canaria, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Marrero, remembers attending Mass with his mother as a child, \u201cand all you met were the old folks.\u201d His wife, a teacher who was baptized in her early 20s, told him some of her students on a recent trip saw a picture of Jesus and asked, \u201cMiss, that\u2019s the Catholic one, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

In this overall environment, scholars like Cornejo Valle warn that a supposed revival in religiosity might amount to a \u201cpublicity effect\u201d driven by a savvy use of media and popular culture.<\/p>\n

But youth movement and church leaders see opportunity in this blank slate \u2014 especially if they \u201ctransmit Jesus\u2019 message with happiness, a message that\u2019s easy to understand,\u201d as Cabral puts it.<\/p>\n

Youth movements grow with appeals to belonging, solidarity<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s the case for the group Cabral and some 35,000 other youth belong to, Hakuna, which started in the early 2010s in a Madrid parish when a group of college students set up a weekly hour of Eucharistic adoration, preceded by a short lecture and followed by a meetup at a local bar. <\/p>\n

The movement became an official lay organization of the Spanish church in 2017, and has grown into volunteer trips and concerts, with seven records launched of Christian music, said its spokeswoman, Maca Torres.<\/p>\n

Read more The trophy returns: NBA releases images of how Finals courts will look in San Antonio, New York<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Holy Spirit, we\u2019re the first to be surprised\u201d by the success, Torres said, adding that most members are people who had stopped practicing, though there are a few converts.<\/p>\n

In Catholicism, infants are baptized \u2014 but more than 13,300 baptisms of people older than 7 were counted in the latest annual report from Spain\u2019s Catholic bishops conference. <\/p>\n

And in France, a country whose approach to secularism is increasingly contested because of its strict regulation of religion in public life, some 13,000 adults were baptized at the Easter Vigil this year \u2014 42% of them ages 18 to 25. That\u2019s according to the country\u2019s Conference of Catholic Bishops, which said that amounts to a tripling of such baptisms compared to 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

Last summer at the Vatican, Leo encouraged a gathering of baptism candidates and newly baptized from France to share their experience of faith with others and let it guide their daily life. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a joy to see young people who are engaging with faith and want to give a sense to their life, by letting themselves by guided by Christ and his Gospel,\u201d Leo told them.<\/p>\n

The appeal for young people, experts say, seems to be twofold \u2014 a disenchantment with other institutions and with the growing loneliness of life lived on social media, together with a church that, starting with Pope Francis, has focused less on doctrine and more on social justice.<\/p>\n

On June 6, the first day of his trip to Spain, Leo will hold a prayer vigil with youth in a vast Madrid public square \u2014 but he\u2019s also later visiting a migrant center in the Canary Islands and a prison near Barcelona, outreach initiatives that tend to appeal to progressive youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think that the number of Catholic young people has grown by a lot, but we do see that in general the profile of the Catholic youth is more committed than before,\u201d Cornejo Valle said.<\/p>\n

A quest for meaning that leads to the pews<\/h3>\n

Mar\u00eda Salazar, 23, leads a Barcelona outpost of the global Catholic youth movement Effet\u00e1. She says many of her peers are looking for different forms of spirituality, within and outside the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than looking for faith, we look for a feeling of peace,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cWe live in a microwave society \u2014 everything has to be immediate \u2014 but the Lord doesn\u2019t work this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said there\u2019s been \u201ca boom of youth\u201d in her parish, which also happens to be one of the most visited monuments in Europe \u2014 the Sagrada Familia, modernist architect Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s unfinished masterpiece.<\/p>\n

About 120 of them engage in adoration and weekend-long spiritual retreats, the first of which saw organizers and the basilica\u2019s rector stay up to prepare the church until well past midnight.<\/p>\n

They also volunteer to help with the elderly going to Mass in the crypt and the international tourists flocking to worship services in the grand temple above it, where the pope will celebrate Mass on June 10 and inaugurate the new tower of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have him here at home,\u201d Salazar gushed. \u201cI see the tower from afar and I see the home that God gave us.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press journalist Nicole Winfield at the Vatican contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n

Read more Denny Hamlin storms back from a pole-start penalty to win at Nashville Superspeedway<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until three years ago, Sara Cabral\u2019s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nReturning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Until three years ago, Sara Cabral\u2019s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055\"},\"wordCount\":1336,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055\",\"name\":\"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":827},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2055#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"Until three years ago, Sara Cabral\u2019s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European...","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit","datePublished":"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055"},"wordCount":1336,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055","name":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-01T06:34:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/50382b1d9be3e0a319e5e3918e322aeb.webp","width":1280,"height":827},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2055#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can\u2019t wait for Pope Leo\u2019s visit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}