I mentioned this story earlier, but the CSM has picked up on it, and it's worth mentioning again.
A small but burgeoning group of young Italians are turning to Catholicism with new fervor, suggesting a reversal of Catholicism's decades-long decline in Italy.
Sister Cristina is one of 550 young Italian women who joined the country's 7,500 cloistered nuns in 2005 - a dramatic increase from the 350 who became nuns in 2003. Vatican officials say the sudden rise in Italian monasticism mirrors a resurgence in Catholicism among young Italians during recent years.
Now, if we could get Spain to follow suit. Spain, of course, is always a couple of decades behind the rest of Europe, so it still thinks free markets and sex are the cutting edge. In this sense, you might refer to Spain as the Austin Powers of Europe. Italy jumped on market principles back in the mid-20th century, drastically improved their economy, and now young people are seeing that wealth doesn't bring happiness. Spain will catch up, but they have to go through its current trials first.
