Religious forms in secularized society: Three Catholic groups in comparison

Abstract

Despite the evidence of a progressive disenchantment, the religious sphere maintains a strong grip on current societies though undertaking some transformations. Pluralism, individualism and privatization are three features we cannot ignore if we choose to study religion in the contemporary world and, more broadly, if we choose to study modernity.

The aim of this article is to illustrate some features of the different forms of religiosity in the secular age (Taylor, 2007). We have focused on modern Catholicism, with particular reference to religious experience in the Catholic lay group. The stories of Catholic militants show that the motivation behind their choice is the crucial factor to analyze their religious experience and worldview. In this sense, we will try to reflect on some indicators that can help us to understand the resources and limits of the contemporary Catholic pluralism and the aspects of the ‘modern desire for God’ (Abbruzzese, 2010).

Introduction

Fragmentation of political parties, political currents in the same party, movements, groups and organizations are evidence that pluralism is not only the concern of religious belief. On the contrary, it regards society as a whole. For a long time the transformations, which have affected the religious sphere, have been read in deterministic terms and this has led to ‘prophesy the death and . . . baste the funeral for the elders in perfect health!’ (Gauchet, 2004: 71).

To rationalize, compare, select and choose does not mean, necessarily, to opt for syncretism, or to embrace modern philosophical-religious thoughts or, again, to maintain a faith due to tradition. In some cases, it means to re-choose the religious faith received at baptism or, more precisely, to choose it in a new way, on the basis of a personal belief developed beyond mere habit or tradition (Cavalli, 1998).

This article illustrates the results of research carried out in 2014–2015 regarding the experience of Catholic militants. The many parishes and associative groups making up, more so now than before, the Catholic universe, represent together with the do-it-yourself religiosity a substantial form of religiosity that comes from a personal choice together with a cultural belonging. According to the reasons behind the choice, the religious experience assumes different peculiarities and also produces very diversified effects within the social life. On the one hand, we will highlight some aspects of the persistence of belief in the contemporary society. On the other hand, we will reflect on the Catholic pluralism as well as the new forms of religiosity of the Catholics by considering the differentiation inside the Church as a useful resource that still provides a very significant role in the ‘post-secular’ age.

In this perspective, three Catholic lay groups are compared: Catholic Action, Agesci and Renewal in the Holy Spirit, as they are expression of both new and traditional movements in the Catholic Church. Specifically, we chose to analyse the Renewal in the Holy Spirit because it is particularly widespread in the research area (Cosenza province in Italy) so it was easier to obtain contacts and access. The Catholic Action, instead, was chosen because, unlike the new religious movements, arises from a specific ecclesial mandate. Also, it engages a regular and continuous relationship with the diocesan structures and it is an integral part of the pastoral device. In this sense it represents the classic expression of ‘Religiosity of Church’. Finally, the Agesci was studied because of its ‘secular’ origin: scouting is born, in fact, independently of the religious dimension. Hence, it seemed interesting to study the way an extra-religious educational model has been applied to a Catholic group and how these two identities integrated with each other.

The main aim of the research was to draw three types of modern religiosity that do not differentiate in their distance from the ecclesiastical institution but, on the contrary, in the way they are part of the ecclesial space. Starting from the dissimilarities in the three movements, that were deeply analysed through the reading of associative documents, we attempted to individuate the different forms of religiosity and, ultimately, to understand how differentiation in religiosity can be functional to the new purposes of evangelization of the Church. For this purpose, different indicators were taken into consideration: training and religious knowledge; the members’ reasons for their belongingness; the religious practice, both as ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’ participation; the ultimate foundations the members base their faith experience on.

Considering the latter, we decided to ask people about the particular belief of resurrection in order to understand how this core dogma of Catholicicism is shared and internalized by those who endorse it. Also, a section of the interviews were dedicated to deepening the ethical and moral orientation of individuals with particular reference to the issues of divorce, abortion, euthanasia, homosexual unions and the social role of Catholics.

The first step in the research was to analyze the associative documents of the chosen groups in order to compare them. After that, the second step consisted of collecting the account of members from the three identified groups, preferring militants who do not hold positions of institutional responsibility in order to collect point of view that were not flawed by free experiences from ‘duties of etiquette and form’. The age of respondents was between 25 and 60, men and women with medium-high education. Eight biographical interviews for each one of the selected groups were collected. These interviews were evenly divided by gender and, in order to reduce the differences related to the territorial context, people were chosen within the urban areas of the province of Cosenza. The method used was the non-directive interview (Bichi, 2007).

Because of the qualitative approach, the research cannot have statistical significance. The voice of the respondents, with the analysis of the associative documents and some moments of participation in the meetings of the three groups are meant to grasp some aspects of Catholic pluralism, characterized by a coexistence of ways and forms (in Simmel’s terms) of both believing and belonging that is, undoubtedly, a significant aspect of modern Catholicism.

1. Conceptual clarification

When reflecting on Catholic pluralism and the role of movements, it can happen, more and more frequently, to come across terms such as de-secularization, re-confessionalization and de-privatization. These concepts are increasingly popular. Though, these terms lack a clear definition with the consequent risk of confusion. In order to avoid that, an effort to overcome at least some of those ambiguities, is necessary. First of all, it is fundamental to explain what is meant by the term secularization.

Dobbelaere (1981) identifies three types of secularization. The first type (societal secularization) refers to the secularization of society that consists in the differentiation and social emancipation of the different social spheres from religion. It is about the social transformations Durkheim (2003), Luhmann (1991) and Parsons (1962) reflected on and that outlined the features of the ‘disenchanted world’ described by Weber (2008).

The other two types of secularization are related to the transformation of religiosity in terms of individual (individual secularization) or group dynamics (organizational secularization). The ‘individual secularization’ concerns, more exactly, the way individual behavior can be directed or influenced by religious norms and, therefore, the extent to which these norms influence human behavior and, thus, society. Instead, the ‘organizational secularization’ refers to the changes interesting the religious bodies (Churches, sects, new movements) and that are observable by taking into account how these latter are oriented and organize themselves around ethical and moral issues as well as around beliefs and rituals. The question is, in few words, how religious organizations fit in with a secularized society.

Starting from Dobbelaere’s typology, the term ‘secularization’ could mean, in a broad sense, a functionally differentiated world that, as a result of this differentiation, becomes ‘emancipated’ from the religious sphere and the religious institutions which, in turn, lose an integrative role to acquire an interpretative one (Luhmann, 1991). From this general and factual phenomenon, other phenomena arise as individual and collective reaction to this emancipated world, which is characterized by an intense problematization and reflection on the ‘status’ of believer rather than by an absence of religion.

The term ‘desecularization’ is far more insidious since it lays itself open to many ambiguities. Commonly it describes a process of reaction to secularization taking place through: public participation in collective events; the support of moral and ethical battles undertaken by the Church; the ability to critically and rationally explain the belief in Catholicism which is experienced as a choice rather than as a given condition.

The desecularization, therefore, encompasses the various manifestations of attention to the Catholic Church as well as a renewed sensitivity towards a reappropriation of religious message (Casanova, 2000). However, a de-secularized world is also an emancipated world, where people analyze, reflect and choose within a plural context and according to individual logic. In fact, individualism and pluralism, typical aspects of modernity, drive social action in desecularized contexts so that desecularization cannot be considered as a reversing process of return to the past or as a desire to restore what has been lost. In other words, it is not a conservative and anti-modern process but, instead, a consequence of a secularized world since this latter offers to every individual the precious opportunity to question and choose how to live their personal experience of faith.

Secularization and desecularization, therefore, are not two opposing processes. If, on the one hand, secularization has not eliminated the sphere of the sacred within society, on the other hand desecularization has not canceled the effects of secularization. To avoid confusion around the concepts that are often susceptible of ideological readings, we will prefer to speak about ‘religious modernity’ and ‘changing structures of belief’ (Taylor, 2007) through a thought that revolves around the experience of lay Catholics militants.

2. Beyond secularization: Religious modernity

Contemporary sociology has now distanced itself from the positivist idea of secularization in terms of ‘eclipse of the sacred’ (Comte, 1967; Cox, 1968) opting for an interpretation of secularization as a process of transformation of religion rather than as an evolutionary and emancipatory process of society from the religious sphere (Casanova 2000; Kaufmann, 2012; Taylor, 2004;).

What changes is the background, that is the social imaginary, acknowledged by Taylor as the ‘the ways people imagine their social existence, how they fit together with others, how things go on between them and their fellows, the expectations that are normally met, and the deeper normative notions and images that underlie these expectations’ (Taylor, 2004: 23).

While in the past God represented evidence, nowadays this is no longer the case because he is not perceptible; while in the past it could be asked the reason for not believing, nowadays, by contrast, one could be questioned about the motivation behind belief. In this sense, the decisive step determined by individualism is not the passage from religion to absence of religion, but from religion to spirituality. That can be observed from the various options of faith on the ‘market’, as Berger (1980) would say, as well as from the various forms of spirituality existing in the Catholic church which has remained intact after more than two thousand years because, while recognizing the differentiation and even the conflict, it is based on the essential principle of obedience. Around this principle, even today, the unity of Catholics and in particular of the militant Catholics can be traced. More exactly, it is the end of religion as objective evidence from which several choices unfold: from the absence of religion to individual spirituality, from the recovery of movements to indifference. All these phases have, as prerequisite, the disappearance of facts and elements in which the natural and the supernatural coincide. The crucial point here is that once established the way and, possibly, the most suitable place to live the faith experience one can do that in a more radical way by transforming in the same way the first Christian communities changed the society and the lives of their members. Here you can find the so called ‘new enchantments’. However, the concept of enchantment does not refer to the absence of critical reflection or the existence of a new ‘madness’ but, rather, it describes a process that, through the experience of the nascent state effectively described by Alberoni (1977), can promote new ways of believing, militating and living the faith. The interest in religion is not dissipated but various forms of (subjective) spiritual practice develop determining actions such as charity, pilgrimage, different forms of prayers, etc. etc. These are all aspects that, although existing in the past, were incidental to the ordinary practice of the Church. Nowadays, the opposite is true: it is the ordinary practice that becomes accessory while the search for extraordinary experiences and of collective effervescence becomes essential.

These experiences are often placed in community settings where people want to live a renewed and authentic faith without giving up using the tools provided by modernity. One re-enchants insofar as the faith is rediscovered and allowed to influence every area of social life that, nevertheless, remains rational and modern.

3. Catholic action, Agesci and Renewal in the Holy Spirit: A background history

Originally, the expression ‘Catholic movement’ was meant to describe the papal action against the anti-clericalism of the French Revolution (Melloni, 2003). The idea of a movement, in general, refers to a state of social unrest, as opposed to the status quo that is not shared by the masses.

The three groups chosen for the comparison developed during three significant historical phases for the Catholic Church. Respectively, the beginning of Modernity (1800), the second phase of modernity known as the economic boom which started in the 1950s, and the complex current phase characterized by a trend towards the recovery of religious foundations considered as existential values rather than cultural and traditional elements.

Ever since then, the thinking on the role of the laity has had some significance. With the beginning of Modernity, the relationship between Catholic clergy and laity encouraged the development of organizations that were officially called to social commitment by Pope Leo XIII in the Rerum Novarum (1891). Nonetheless, already back in 1867, a first experience of socially committed organization was established by two lay people, Giovanni Acquaderni and Mario Fani: the ‘Italian Catholic Youth Society’, in which we can trace the origins of the Catholic Action (Azione Cattolica).

Although the Church did not mind the commitment of the laity, in order to avoid dispersion and excessive autonomy, it established the ‘Opera dei Congressi’ in 1874 with the intention of coordinating the increasing initiatives in the Italian territory. The key principles on which the ‘Opera dei Congressi’ worked were the compliance with the positions of the Church, the protection of its rights and the promotion of charitable actions by coordinating the Catholic associations.

This experience was interrupted in 1904 by Pius X, so as to put an end to the disputes among lay people over its control. In 1905, with ‘The firm purpose’ (Il Fermo Proposito), Pius X established a new unitary and integrating reality of catholic lay people: the ‘Catholic Action’, a ‘lay association for the promotion of Catholic religion in the profane world’. By doing so, Pius X instituted ‘the’ movement by investing the members of the Catholic Action with the social role of promoting and keeping the Christian principles in the ‘profane world’ that was being influenced by socialist and liberal ideas inherited from the French Revolution.

Pius X (1905) associated the Catholic movement with an important action of the lay people to bring in every area of society the Christian message through actions that were appropriate to the times and social contexts such as family, school and work.

A common thread exists between the ‘originary’ movement and the movements. The Second Vatican Council is often considered a watershed but it is clear that different movements had existed before. However, the Council created the conditions to organize and re-organize the pre-existing groups that were going to update the statutes (first of all that of the Catholic Action) in compliance with the exhortations of the Council.

In this context, the Church chose to ‘catch up’ and convened the Second Vatican Council that is often analysed as a historical watershed between two eras: the pre-conciliar and the post-conciliar (Bova, 2013). We focus our attention on the post-conciliar phase and observe from an international perspective there is evidence that new groups arose because of an ecclesial expression that was considered lukewarm, little attracting and inconsistent with the message of Jesus Christ that, nonetheless, still had to speak to the history.

The openings up of the Council have constituted not only the foundation of a more receptive and accepting Church but also, and mainly, of a Church more interested in the world in order to carefully catch and read the signs of the times. It is not just the disarmament and abandonment of a conflictual reading of modernity that sustained the old intransigent policy. It is about, instead, a clear and firm attention to the world (Abbruzzese, 2010: 277–278).

In the conciliar church there was no intent to differentiate the Catholic militancy into many realities. Considering the new Catholic movements with a look at the traditional hierarchical structure, distributed in dioceses and parishes, it is easy to grasp the difference with the associative form of the ‘Catholic Action’, strictly linked to the territory and operating in specific parish contexts (Diotallevi, 2003).

There are numerous studies highlighting the features of each movement, their organization, their internal hierarchies and their ways of being more inclusive or exclusive: elements that are sometimes controversial and difficult to interpret. There are many types of charisma but they can all be traced back, at least formally, to the Church from which they wish to be embraced. This embrace came, officially, on May 30, 1998 from John Paul II during the conclusion of the first World Congress of Catholic movements. However, that was not to renounce the need for unity of the Church but, rather, to celebrate the difference as a resource rather than a limit.

Even in the Lumen Gentium (Concilio Vaticano II, 1964), the Church’s unity was seen as a target to be pursued though considering the fact that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people. Perhaps the time was premature and that disruptive pluralism was still too frightening.

After this brief historical introduction, it could be said that the Catholic Action was the original Catholic movement, established by the Church in order to send in the modern world lay people able to proclaim and cultivate, even in a changing society, the evangelic message.

The charismatic movement is directly connected with the religious ‘revival’ happening in the United States and it is, in this sense, an imported movement. It is also part of a current whose aim is to recover the spirituality and the heritage of shared emotions.

The fundamental difference lies in the fact that the Catholic Action operated within the ecclesiastical experience and, starting from that, it intended to enter the secular world in order to ‘convert’. The movements start from the secular world, instead, to rebuild the Christian experience, albeit in different ways and forms, sharing the idea that the ecclesiastic systems are indifferent or refractory to any innovation coming from inside.

This climate explains why communication between an ‘institutional’ movement such as the Catholic Action and the new lay groups was not always easy. It explains why the Catholic Church only approved after several years some of the many new movements that have arisen since the 40s, while showing no reticence regarding those associations with Christian-educational purposes, such as the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts (AGESCI), which was founded when in 1970 the Italian Association of Guides (AGI) and the Italian Catholic Scouts Association (ASCI) merged together.

This latter can be considered a ‘frontier’ association, admittedly ‘secular’ but essentially based on Christianity as a ‘philosophy of life’. In fact, the mission of this association is to make ‘this’ world a better place to live in, protecting nature and respecting the other people, showing no interest in the spiritual sphere. The first article of the associative Statute reads: ‘The Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts […] is an educational juvenile Association, which aims to contribute to the formation of the person during leisure time and extracurricular activities in accordance with the principles and method of scoutism devised by Baden-Powell and adapted at the characteristics of Italian boys and girls in todays’ society’. It is only in the second instance that the Statute highlights the fact that the Agesci is a ‘free association of believers’.

The case of the Catholic Action is quite different, in that the first article of its Statutes defines itself as ‘an association of lay people that, adopting a community and organic form and cooperating with the hierarchy, are freely committed for the realization of the general goal of the apostolic church’. The same could be found, for example, looking at the Statute of a post-conciliar associative experience, the Renewal in the Holy Spirit (RnS) that reads: the association ‘works in the Church for the renewal of Christian life’ (article 1) pursuing purposes strictly related to the religious life, the sacraments, prayer and to a life guided by the Holy Spirit (article 2).

These aspects can render controversial the relationship of the movements with the ‘mother church’ that finds itself in the difficult position of mediating between the resistance of the local churches (at diocesan as well as parish level) and the ‘individualist’ pressures of the movements that arise as independent entities from the parish context. However, it is unthinkable to give up the action of the movements within which one can find the space to live experiences of renewed and authentic faith, sometimes recovered, and saved by the materialistic forces of contemporary society (De Rosa, 2004).

The remarkable diversity among the Catholic associative experiences has been recorded since the 1980s and encouraged by the typical dynamics of the late modernity. Surely, the spirit of the Council, despite lacking an official and formal opening, had paved the way for the radical changes that characterized the post-conciliar phase which showed how ‘the experience of ecclesial movements contributed to change the face of Catholicism from “communion” to (…) “community”’ (Faggioli, 2008: 114).

The choice of the group-community, along with a renewed interest in religion, can be explained, as pointed out by Franco Crespi, ‘at least in part, as a reaction to situations of widespread disorientation caused, in contemporary society, by the increasing complexity originated by the strong differentiation in the areas of meaning and by the pluralism of value and cultural models. In this context, individuals and social groups are struggling to find sufficiently uniform and consistent references and are, therefore, inclined to seek new ways of integration and identification, whose function is precisely to reduce the complexity’ (Crespi, 1997: 9, italics in original). The movements, and generally speaking any associative groups, can be that too.

The difference among ‘types’ of believers has always existed. Perhaps today this difference is more obvious: a non-practicing Catholic may look more like an agnostic than a believer; there are believers whose practice, while assiduous, is essentially experienced as a ritual, a habit, or even as the attachment to tradition without necessary believing. At the same time, it is quite clear that in the personal story of many believers, whatever the identity side of the narrated experience, individualism remains a fundamental trait since the desire of one to affirm their belief, on the basis of an individual choice within an environment that offers many possibilities, is widespread (Turco, 2010).

Religious movements are often analysed starting from their significant individual and social role since they regain visible space on behalf of the church. However, even among militants the membership is based on different reasons and that cannot but have consequences on the experience of faith in general.

Taking into account these issues, it is also true that there are very significant experiences of ‘conversion’ that, finding space within the ecclesiastic aggregations develop believers who are certain and definitely engaged in witnessing their encounter with the faith that becomes experience of real life. As emphasized by Danielle Hervieu-Léger, ‘there are many examples of this dynamic of re-affiliation that has been brought, in particular, by (…) renewal movements – of neopentecostal or charismatic type–which offer their members the conditions for a personal and highly emotional religious experience. In any case, the conversion marks the entry into a strong regime of religious identity’ (Hervieu-Léger, 2003: 99).

The extraordinary event of conversion, has a twofold effect: to restore order inside the person, giving them back again guidance, and to encourage them to engage an active ‘Catholic citizenship’, nurtured by the group but to be lived publicly, asserting with determination their identity and therefore those shared practices as well as norms, beliefs and values.

This is not the case of those who are still searching and ‘are characterized by their fluid contents of belief as well as by the uncertainty of their community belonging’. (Hervieu-Léger, 2003: 78–89). During the search for the ultimate meaning of existence, the group experience gives serenity, provides a greater knowledge of the respect for the liturgy and the listening of the Word but does not yet provide all the answers relating to ethical and theological questions, lacking a clear identity that might reach the complete and total conversion and membership, or remain a ‘work in progress’.

4. Groups and religious experience: Differences and similarities

Having mentioned, albeit briefly, the history of each group, together with the analysis of the documents and interviews, it was possible to identify some of the historical, formal and substantial aspects of the identity of these groups.

The interviews showed that people belonging to the three groups tend to meet God through their prayers in different ways. In the experience of all the people encountered, the affiliation with the Church is expressed with conviction: religious observance is constant and visible and the sacraments are considered essential tools to get closer to God. Furthermore, the content of their belief is consistent with what is taught by the Church. Finally, although doubts and inner dilemmas are expressed in relation to the ethical and moral guidelines of the Church, the position of the interviewees is neither controversial nor critical. In other words, the Church is intended to give indications that have to be taken into account without silencing, however, the voice of one’s own Christian conscience.

The religious experience in a group like the Catholic Action is perhaps more traditional and representative of the contemporary world than the one people live in a group like the Renewal in the Holy Spirit where it is experimented in a ‘nascent state’ condition (Alberoni, 1977). For this reason, perhaps, people described more homogeneous experiences and showed a more radical collective identity; a stronger community binds the group. With this latter, comes a sense of security but also some constrain: feeling an obligation to stick to the vision of the group and its identity, people could maintain a certain caution in expressing individual interpretations that may contradict the institutional vision.

When religious groups struggle to obtain legitimation from the Church, such as in the case of The Renewal in the Holy Spirit, they tend to constantly operate with the aim of gaining recognition and consensus. On the contrary, results showed that a similar problem do not regard the Catholic Action and the Agesci, probably because of the self-confidence they have about their long history and strong tradition.

The qualitative analysis highlighted that people which are part of the Catholic Action are quite proud of being part of the historic church without the necessity of giving up their own individuality. Members appear aware of the trust placed in them by the ecclesial hierarchy, proud of both their primacy in the history of the lay associations and of the service and privileged collaboration with their pastors. It is the self-confidence of those who have always been there.

Something similar has been noted in the Agesci where the source of pride can be traced to the scoutism itself, as a consolidated and healthy lifestyle aimed to the improvement of society. The Catholic version of the Scout method adds an idea of action addressed to the choice of faith. The action itself, by taking care of themselves, social relationships and nature, becomes prayer. That recalls the ‘mystique of the moment’ as called by José Tolentino Mendonça, a kind of mystique that is not experienced in the loneliness or with the escape from the mundane world but, actually, in being part of the world (Mendonça, 2015). What seems really important here is the concrete commitment, ‘the religious faith continues to be an “added-value” when “constructing citizens” who are responsible and respectful of the public good’ (Garelli, 2011: 202, our translation). Finally, in the Renewal of the Holy Spirit, action and prayer are strongly bound: the idea is that the prayer itself is action to concretely intervene both in the inner sphere and in the outer world. Results illustrate three different missions. Each of the three groups constructs its own identity around specific and different aspects of Catholicism and, perhaps, in this sense it is possible to define them as ‘parts’ of the Church. According to their aptitudes and ideas, people can choose the appropriate membership in order to express their sense of belonging. That reflects the multiple souls the Church is made of, just like in a big family where the peculiarities of each sibling come together in the embrace of the mother.

It is a type of religion that fits with the characteristics of inductive religiosity that is typical of contemporary society where, as noted by Peter Berger, a man ‘must choose in innumerable situations of everyday life […] To decide, however, means to reflect. The modern individual must stop and pause where premodern men could act in unreflective spontaneity’ (Berger, 1980: 21).

The religious practice – defined as a visible and regular participation in rituals and liturgies, resulting from the importance given to rites and sacraments – is a common element in the three groups. There is even an important space for personal and ‘invisible’ prayer. Religious practice gives visibility to the Church contrasting the reading of secularization as a marginalization process of religion in the private sphere. Another similar aspect concerns the constructing vision of the Church. People do not show a polemical or critical attitude toward the ecclesial institution. Even when personal position does not match with that of the Magisterium, people expresses a certain respect and recognize the guiding role of the Church, beyond the individual choices.

However, the Catholic Action appeared more characterized by a spirit of service and collaboration towards the needs of the priest and the entire community as it emerged in its constant involvement within the organization of liturgies, meetings or events during the year. This element appeared less pronounced in the other two groups that seemed more focused on their group activities. Also, in the other two groups, membership is not necessarily given inside one’s own church community. Yet all three groups have a spiritual assistant demonstrating, in this sense, respect and recognition of ecclesiastical authority that is meant to guide both individuals and the group itself. Also, the three groups appeared structured and well-branched at different levels all over the national territory, providing for elected seats and self-financing tools for the association such as the membership card of the Catholic Action and the Agesci and spontaneous contribution in the Renewal in the Holy Spirit.

The reasons behind this ‘presence’ in the group, in the Church and in the world can be different. Membership and participation can be ‘for’ and ‘in’ the group or, conversely, because people are convinced that practice and assiduous commitment are the way to forge a more intimate and stable relationship with God. As far as the dimension of the belief is concerned, although people declared to believe in Jesus Christ and in His resurrection, interviews highlighted some differences in the way afterlife is conceived. The militants from the Renewal in the Holy Spirit seemed more ‘orthodox’ invoking the necessity to reclaim the Christian tradition while the militants of the Agesci and the Catholic Action appeared more inclined to a modernized vision of the afterlife, imagining less frightening scenarios. In fact, they demonstrated a certain skepticism concerning the idea that a place of eternal damnation exists and expressed a subjective idea of the afterlife, basically picturing a safe and happy ending for all men. The ethical issues are also quite controversial. The opinions expressed were different and the openings of Pope Francis on some topics seemed to bring an in-progress scenario among the groups where the debate is mainly politically-centered (conservative vs progressive) rather than doctrinal (catholic vs non-catholic).

The idea that the Church should provide guidance is widely shared: it is necessary for Catholic people to know the position of the Church but without coercion that would not be respectful of individual liberty. Accordingly, the opinion about the political role Catholic people should play changes significantly. The most open positions, mainly expressed by the Catholic Action and the Agesci, believe it is not necessarily a Catholic party and that every Catholic person can engage in any party without going against their principles. More exactly that means being committed to the public good and protecting the rights of every person, but not necessarily imposing Catholic morality.

On the contrary, the opinion commonly expressed by the Renewal of the Holy Spirit is much more rigid in the defense and promotion of the so-called ‘non-negotiable’ Catholic values that are considered absolute for the society tout-court. Some respondents considered desirable the reconstitution of a Catholic party or, at least, that Catholics should not militate within political parties where the ethical principles of the Church are clearly not pursued.

The individual autonomy in determining what is good and what is evil emerged in the Catholic Action and in the Agesci was not represented as an instrument of rebellion to the Church but, rather, it was understood as a value and also a duty of the Christian people: it was linked to the need of questioning one’s own conscience. The idea of the Renewal respondents was quite the opposite: in their opinion, individuals cannot regulate themselves, their freedom lies in being able to choose whether to be or not to be, to be part or not of the group, reducing in this way the problem of constantly challenging their soul, relying on ‘objective’ truth.

Another aspect of distinction between the Renewal and the two other groups is the admiration expressed towards the leader. The name of Salvatore Martinez was often mentioned during the interviews as an enlightened personality, inspired, directly led by the Holy Spirit. He did not appear as a simple representative, his figure had a more significant role similar to the Weberian charismatic leader. His words were cited and held up as an example, his prayers assimilated as prodigious events. Conversely, the respondents of the other groups did not say anthing about their national presidents whose role is certainly, but nothing more than, one of representation.

Taking everything into account, results showed the traditional groups appeared ‘modernist’ and progressive while the modern groups (or newer) seemed more traditional and conservative. That does not surprise us, considering the new religious movements were mainly born to respond to those aspects of modernity that are considered ‘secularizing’.

As noted by Veronica Roldan, ‘There should be noted that, however, the attitude is positive, the members of the Renewed – re-evaluating anything on the basis of their faith – see a better future, a recovery of positive values and spirituality’ (Roldàn, 2009: 189, our translation). Hence, people look at the future trying to recover the values of the past. In the Catholic Action and the Agesci, instead, the focus is much more on the present: people want to act in the present, adapting themselves to the needs of modern society and therefore, following a logic that Berger (1980) would have called ‘reductive’, characterized by the attempt to modernize the religious tradition, demythicizing and adapting it in various ways to modernity.

With regard to the dimension of ‘religious modernization’ we must distinguish different sectors, not equally understood by three groups: the liturgical, dogmatic and ethical fields. From the point of view of liturgy, the Renewal in the Holy Spirit proposes new ways to pray and establishes new prayers (like the prayer of the effusion). The songs of praise and prayer, and the prayers of liberation, have always been part of the Christian tradition but they are now modernized, in the sense that they become ordinary, rather than extraordinary, methods of prayer. Hence, the modernization of the liturgy in this group consists in a livelier and more participatory way (and in this sense less composed) than the traditional one. The Agesci and the Catholic Action, on the other side, appeared more conformist.

From the point of view of dogmas and ethics, on the contrary, the Renewal has reiterated the need to return to the traditional values and beliefs, rigidly defending (sometimes with tones even more harsh than those used by the priests) the need to know the fundamentals of belief without shunning the idea of Satan and Hell and to marry the official ecclesiastical ethics, that are considered by the Renewal as a source of salvation, since they are based on a culture of life and not of death, unlike the modern culture.

On these aspects, Catholic Action and the Agesci are more modern: they believe in the hereafter but sometimes consider out of fashion the belief in Hell. The need to modernize is considered even more important in the ethics and moral fields: the condemnation of divorce, cohabitation, homosexual relationships and in some cases of euthanasia and abortion was regarded as an almost ‘anti-Christian’ judgment, disrespectful of the human difficulties people who live those situations might experience. Both of these aspects can find their foundation in the idea of ‘judgment’ (of God at the end of life and of the Church in this life).

It seems like respondents from the Agesci and the Catholic Action were not fully convinced of the idea of a God, and even less of a Church, that condemns rather than embraces. From this perspective, people declared doubts on the existence of Hell and demonstrated some difficulties to recognize themselves in the strict Catholic morality. If the idea of judgment and punishment is removed, it becomes easier and more spontaneous for people to affirm their personal evaluations even when these latters are not in conformity with the official doctrine. Where, instead, the thought of this final judgment is part of the religious beliefs, it becomes more difficult to act on one’s own accord.

Conclusions

In such a complex environment, if the study of secularization continues to focus on the crisis of the institutions that comes from the critical consciousness of contemporary man, probably, it will still be observed a world away from religion ‘classically’ understood. However, if interest shifts to the individual, a strongly religious world can be found almost as if the real secularized society (the one without a true faith) was the pre-modern rather than the modern society, where people want to experience and learn before trying to believe, at least, to offer a rationally plausible sense to their beliefs or unbelief.

We surely live in a disenchanted society, in the sense that it distanced itself from the enchanted vision of pre-modernity. But this distance does not presuppose an abandonment of faith. Rather, that the rationalization of religious belief opens perspectives that, starting from the individual religious experience, can produce new and significant transformation, opening the way for what Gauchet (2004) described as ‘re-enchantments’, or even producing new and modern ‘enchantments’.

If it is true that there is a development of different forms of spirituality, it is equally true that ‘every form of spirituality is a system of meaning that makes plausible for people their own biography. In these terms, spirituality is something that goes beyond the observance of rites and ceremonies because it regards the sphere of “being” more than the moral one. This need to “give meaning” to individual and collective life is the unexpected fact of this post-secular age that has behind itself, and is still experiencing, the great social and cultural transformation of secularization’ (Berzano, 2014: 9, our translation).

In the experience of the militants who fall into the category of ‘convinced and active’ believers (Garelli, 2011), the concept of spirituality is combined with Catholicism in the sense that a person’s spiritual research, targeted at the inner balance and peace of mind, is held within his/her own religion. For unbelievers, or different believers, spirituality can be searched in other dimensions which are not strictly connected to the religious sphere (Berzano, 2014).

What seems to be important, however, is that increasingly the faith and its forms are no longer based on a belief that is internalized as a matter of fact but rather based on everyday experience of that belief. Abandoning the dichotomous concept of secularism/desecularization, we believe it is better to observe the religious aspects of individualism as a unique expression of modern religiosity.

In fact, different forms of the same individualism emerged when analyzing the experience of the militants from the studied groups. An individualism that ‘fluctuates today between the hyper-subjective orientation to ‘do-it-yourself religion’ and the personal and strongly internalized adherence at the living tradition of the most consolidated among the ‘church religions’. The individualization of belief is, in practice, a challenge and an opportunity all historical religions, beginning with the Catholic Church that in our country remains prevalent, have to deal with’ (Rovati, 2013: 7, our translation).

The lay service offered by the Catholic Action, the social commitment of the Scouts, and the prayers in the Renewal are three different methods of interpreting Christianity. So, if the Catholic Action and the Agesci appeared less ‘orthodox’ from the point of view of the practices, the Renewal appeared as a self-referential group that, while retiring in its prayers, undertakes little in real life. Actually, the research showed three different expressions of faith: each group highlights some important aspects of Catholicism orienting, accordingly to what is most meaningful to them, the actions both at individual and collective level. This differentiated availability of experiences enables believers to seek their own community dimension. Today, many people move to a new group as they do not recognize themselves in the expressive and relational forms of the former one; similarly, when not satisfied with their parish context, they attend other parishes. Religious movements, in this sense, combine traditional needs with modern opportunities.

It may be true that, at times, the experience of militancy arises from an individual and social need rather than a religious one. It is also true that personal discomfort can lead to a more authentic experience of faith where to look with confidence for answers. Furthermore, people can choose the experience of group because they think to find a place for socializing. In groups people can experience the conversion, they can also deepen their experience of faith by living it more intensely or more simply they can try and satisfy that transcendent urge they feel inside them.

At the heart of these inner processes there can be the rational verification people make between what is proposed by the group and what they live through in their direct experience. The choice is strongly linked with the experience, and starting from this latter, as well as from the belief, it follows the reasonableness of the membership.

These believers call themselves ‘Catholics for choice’ in a context where the act of believing cannot be taken for granted anymore because they are able to give reason for their belief with an awareness they did not have in their past. The religious militancy is a type of religiosity that is an option among others. It is part of the inductive religiosity typical of contemporary society.

On the other side, the differentiation among various associative experiences and among personal motivations underlying the membership to a specific group poses new challenges to the Church that finds itself engaged in seizing and defending the positive aspects caused by the social dissemination of ‘its’ movements. However, the Church needs to be careful when dealing with the search for identity and interpretative autonomy undertaken by the groups as it risks being overshadowed.

The different realities coexisting in the Church permits modernizing the religious experience in the sense that they keep significant space for the individuality of their members. It is offering, at the same time, the opportunity to choose more ‘fundamentalist’ community contexts that through a return to the essence of the Catholic origins proposes paths of faith so demanding they sometimes lead to radical choices, which are not always easy to understand by those who prefer other paths. The typical mechanisms of a plural society are difficult to classify into interpretative types but are challenging to observe as they assume fluid and different forms, sometimes blending together while at other times in sharp distinction.