Alba Martorell, who joined the Blanquerna Observatory this year, attended the conference “The Religious Phenomenon Among Today’s Youth: Understanding, Recognition and Challenges”, organized by the Directorate General for Religious Affairs (DGAR) of the Barcelona City Council, which took place on October 8.
During this conference, the study “The Religiosity of Catalan Youth” was presented, recently published and carried out by researchers Víctor Albert-Blanco (UAB), Roger Martínez (UOC) and Ramon Arbós.
The study, while confirming a continued process of secularization within Catalan society (only 41.2% of people aged 16 to 34 identify as believers), also highlights the complexity of this process, which, far from being linear, shows many nuances. To address these issues, the study relied on data from the 2023 Barometer on Religiosity and the Management of its Diversity and the 2022 Youth Survey of Catalonia.
This research also seeks to explain how demographic change linked to migration is reshaping the Catalan religious landscape. Regarding this, although young people largely abandon the beliefs passed down from their parents (or retain atheistic and agnostic convictions), a stable number of believers remains in the country, and these believers continue to practice their faith regularly and consistently, especially younger believers.
This intensification of religious practice among young people is explained, in part, by the religious diversification that Catalonia has experienced in recent decades. Among young believers aged 16 to 24, only 36.4% identify as Catholic, while 14.5% are Muslim, 5.8% Evangelical/Protestant, 4.4% belong to other religions, 16.9% consider themselves agnostic, and 22% atheist.
It is also interesting to note that younger people show a greater degree of tolerance than previous generations when it comes to coexistence with other beliefs and appear to be more receptive to other forms of spirituality that were not previously present in our society.
The conference also featured a presentation by Lena de Botton (PhD in Sociology from the UB) and concluded with a discussion panel including Marc Malapitan, from the Kalayaan Cultural Filipina Association in Catalonia; Jenabou Dembaga, from the Umbrales Umma and Diabi ji Soninké associations; Alba Fajardo, community facilitator and member of the Evangelical Church of Philadelphia; Pau Duran, lawyer and editor at Catalunya Religió; Andrea Bertran, from the Casa Virupa Association; and Nariman Ben Rouain, from the Entre Joves Association.