When this decade began, public conversation thrived with predictions of a new Roaring Twenties after Covid, as happened after the Spanish Flu. While they did not foresee war or economic hardship, the historical sparring still helped us think about our own time.
Now the media is talking of a Catholic resurgence, but a useful historical comparison is missing. Commentators point to rising adult conversions, increased youth practice, and cultural signals such as Rosalía’s religious new album and her public reflections on God, often portraying the trend as unprecedented.
Yet in the interwar period, a notable Catholic revival spread across Europe. Intellectuals like Maritain, Chesterton and Bernanos—writers who shaped Catholic culture while speaking to a broader public—converted and wrestled with political polarisation, technological change, and a growing sense of meaninglessness. These concerns feel strikingly familiar today in a world shaped by the collapse of the multilateral order, the rise of AI and the epidemic of isolation.
It is too soon to declare a new revival. Still, bringing that earlier one into public conversation can help us read our time more clearly. Furthermore, engaging with these thinkers may offer not only understanding but also guidance: how did they face a world whose promises had been broken, and what might they teach us about living amid our own broken promises?
José Rama Domínguez
PhD Student, Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts
University of St Andrews, Ramón Areces Scholar
jrd24@st-andrews.ac.uk