Increase in young people turning to faith
The Netherlands, which was once a religious country, saw a dramatic decline in religiosity after WWII. Recently though, there’s been a small but significant increase in people turning to faith. Ronelle Sonnenberg was interviewed by Joshua Coe.
In the Netherlands, church bells still chime on Sundays, a tradition that’s echoed through the centuries. But attendance in the country has declined dramatically over the past 50 years.
The Netherlands was once a society where Protestants and Catholics lived in distinct but parallel worlds known as “pillars” — each with their own schools, political parties and newspapers. But those pillars began to crumble after World War II.
“The decline became huge — of church attendance,” said Ronelle Sonnenberg, an associate professor at the Protestant Theological University in the Dutch city of Utrecht. “It was not connected to your social bubble anymore, so it was even less relevant.”
