Randy Boyagoda has examined why Catholicism at large seems to have shifted in fashion — it's "cool again" as per a recent column he wrote — and why that isn’t automatically a “good” thing. 

His column, titled “Catholicism is cool again,” which ran in the Globe and Mail before Christmas, explores reasons for a greater focus on the faith and how it has become culturally significant again in recent times, especially across the areas of public life, global politics, culture and media and among younger audiences. 

While past media focus on the Church has been dominated by the global sexual abuse scandal, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada, controversies and general hard news about the papacy, Boyagoda points to a new lens on the topic of Catholic cachet becoming glaringly apparent nowadays, almost everywhere you look. 

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“ This article became an occasion to reflect more broadly what I’ve been noticing around public life these days, not simply marked by the election of Pope Leo XIV, although that certainly is obviously the major  global news event associated with Catholicism this past year,” he said. 

While there is no denying that the conclave and subsequent election of Pope Leo XIV last spring brought the faith to the public in a way rarely seen, Boyagoda highlighted high-profile politicians like Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance’s public witness to Catholic faith as highlighted in the media, tensions amid U.S. conservatism and depictions in modern culture and arts such as Martin Scorsese's The Saints, films like Conclave and Immaculate, even fashion trends such as "Catholic-core," all areas shining the light on Catholicism. 

However, the resulting “coolness” the faith seems to be enjoying through its extended stay in the mainstream is not necessarily a shining moment, he said. 

“ I want to be clear that this is not a triumphalist moment for Catholicism. While there is a certain cachet and popularity right now, I think it would be dangerous and irresponsible to pretend that we are on the upswing. However, there seems to be a renewed interest beyond the dominating subjects of the past 25 years,” Boyagoda said. 

The question then becomes whether the Catholicism we’re seeing more of in today’s society is a result of a push for genuine renewal or a mere pandering, with the faith becoming the latest easy target for the newest trends. For the former  principal and vice president of the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, the answer is not cut and dry, but rather lies with which area or media you focus on. 

“ If you look at someone like Jon Fosse, I think anyone taking his work seriously is going to find within it an invitation to take seriously the question of God's presence in our lives and how to seek and respond to it. When you flip it, and you think about something like the most recent Knives Out movie, which features a priest storyline and concession figures to some degree, it just strikes me as silly and campy, kind of borrowing on the richness of Catholic sacramental life to create cheap thrills,” Boyagoda said. 

He highlighted that Catholic inclusion in media, for what may seem like an instant nudge towards popularity, often brings the risks of superficiality. Many may remember Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ being hailed as the ultimate opportunity for a Catholic renewal through media in 2004, before ultimately fizzling into relative obscurity. 

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For those reasons, Boyagoda points to literature as being more permanent than film and television, as culture often keys into Catholicism's mystique and splendour for fleeting, market-driven reasons, as opposed to “ understanding of the human person through the riches of Catholicism itself.”

It’s outside of the media and political meetings that Catholicism continues to maneuver its way, whether for good or bad, into an ever-discernible phenomenon. Can something be considered “cool” if the kids aren't doing it? Probably not. Thankfully, that is slowly becoming less of an element that keeps the faith out of the popular sphere.

“There is what we call a vibe shift, and this desire, especially on the part of young men, for more traditional sources of identity and belonging. As I say in the article, you can't find anything more traditional than the Catholic Church on that front,” Boyagoda said. 

It’s a reality that’s reached the Archdiocese of Toronto, with John MacMullen, the Office of Catholic Youth’s associate director of youth ministry, telling The Catholic Register late last year that parishes with youth ministry have gone from 10 to 12 active parishes in 2013 to 115 today, more than half of Toronto parishes. Expanding youth ministry has brought net gains in summer camps and Edge ministry participation, he said.

Boyagoda questions, however, whether this recent spike is akin to the “muscular Christianity” sometimes seen through American conservative politics, or if there is a true desire among young people and young men responding to alienation by seeking out a larger account of who they are and what their purpose could be. It’s a reality yet to be seen, but one that time is certain to tell. 

Despite contributing to The Globe and Mail on  the role of Catholicism in contemporary life for years, it was the publication that approached Boyagoda to expand on his Atlantic Magazine essay "A Quiet American Papacy" on Pope Leo XIV's unexpected style. 

Now, around one month removed from its publication, he says the feedback from readers online and fellow parishioners at Corpus Christi Parish in Toronto has been glaringly positive. Still, he understands the stance some faithful might have; the closer Catholicism edges to being the “in” thing, the greater the risk for it to be overlooked as nothing more than a fad. 

“ I had an exchange with the American writer Paul Elie, who said that the prospect of Catholicism suffering the ultimate degradation, which is to say by becoming fashionable. The idea is that Catholicism is supposed to be counter-cultural; Christ didn't come for the winners, but for the losers, and to save the ordinary from the powerful,” he said. “If there is a sense of cachet or cool, there is also a temptation there.” 

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Perhaps, the onus then ultimately lies on the media and writers as a whole to understand the weight that follows when our faith and the many representations of it continue to peak out from behind society’s secular veil. 

“It goes back to the question of what is my responsibility as a writer in trying to make sense of our time and place. I was very intent in the essay that this should not be a moment of triumphalism, because the Church is made up of sinners, and so we can't rest easy, but we should take note of this larger and unexpectedly positive interest with curiosity, and then discern how best to evangelize in the moment,” Boyagoda said.