Digitalisation of the religious domain, trust in spiritual leaders and attitude towards religious organizations in the post-pandemic context: a youth perspective

The crisis period of the pandemic caused serious changes that affected religious institutions. One of the notable shifts in religious life over the past few years has been digitalisation and mediatisation. Young people react to new phenomena and processes in the religious domain in their own way, express different assessments and expectations. The article analyses the attitude of young people towards the role of religious organizations in the situation of the pandemic and after it, the level of trust in religious organizations and their representatives, expectations from the clergy, attitude to the processes of digitalisation and mediatisation of religious life. The paper is based on the data of a sociological survey and a number of focus groups. Religious organizations elicit a variety of assessments, from positive (mainly among young believers) to disapproving (among non-believers). Young people, particularly atheists, are critical of the open interaction of religious structures with political institutions and the interference of the church into various aspects of secular society. In part, the youth express the usual criticism of religion, which is popular nowadays. Some of the negative assessments are related to the lack of information, for example, about the real activity of religious structures and individual clergy in helping people who found themselves in a vulnerable position during the coronavirus pandemic. Numerous examples of social service in the form of spiritual, psychological and cial support of those in need from various parishes went almost unnoticed. The popularity of those pastors who use virtual space in their work testifies to young people’s poignant need of to receive information about religion. At the same time, the youth trust informal communication, which is devoid of the traditional instructive tone.