Charlie Kirk’s message of faith fed Gen Z’s hunger for meaning

Here in Oxford, England, the oldest university in the English-speaking world is engulfed in a national controversy — sparked by an assassination 5,000 miles away.

It started Wednesday, when George Abaraonye, the student president-elect of the world-renowned Oxford Union debating society, reacted to the murder of Charlie Kirk.

“Charlie Kirk got shot loool,” Abaraonye posted on social media, among several other expressions of pleasure.

An appalling display for a leader of a 200-year-old organization devoted to free speech — made worse because this same young man actually met Kirk in debate three months ago in the Union’s chamber.

The Oxford Union Society issued a statement distancing itself from Abaraonye’s comments. Yet it’s not blocked his ascension to president, nor has he resigned.

It all strikes me personally as I am here in Oxford on a Catholic pilgrimage honoring the lives of English martyrs like St. Thomas More.

More was beheaded on Tower Hill in London in 1535 for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church — executed for speaking the truth.

Now Kirk has become a civil martyr, targeted not for who he was, but for what he stood for.

But what is it about Kirk’s message that caused his execution, and made it spark exultations like Abaraonye’s?

We live in a time of uncertainty and change, as AI technology raises existential questions about jobs and humanity, wars rage across the globe, and even matters of basic biology spark fierce debate.

Amid this chaos, confusion reigns, and our youth crave clarity, stability and above all, meaning.

It’s led to a fascinating trend: a resurgence of young people turning to the Catholic Church.

Here in the UK, recent surveys reveal a “quiet revival” of faith, with the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds attending church at least monthly surging from just 4% in 2018 to 16% in 2024. Among Britain’s Gen Z, Catholics now outnumber Anglicans.

But it’s also happening in countries like France, which has seen a staggering 45% year-on-year increase in adult baptisms, with 42% of new catechumens aged 18 to 25.

It was seen in the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth, which I covered this summer, when over one million young pilgrims from around the world gathered in Rome to celebrate Mass with Pope Leo and pray in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

Yes, Charlie Kirk was a towering figure in US politics, his razor-sharp social media takedowns making him a conservative icon.

But his call to live a Christian life echoed far beyond borders, touching millions of young hearts — and his Christian witness cut deeper than his fiery political rhetoric.

His unapologetic defense of faith, his example as a devoted father and family man, and his proud upholding of Christian values empowered young men, in particular, to speak openly about aspiring to families and virtuous lives — ideals sidelined in a culture obsessed with fame, fortune and followers.

Kirk championed what so many young people hunger for today: something good, fulfilling, and everlasting. And as the figures show, more and more are finding it in Christianity.

Yet this message is unpopular, even hated by some. Why?

We may not yet know the motives of Kirk’s killer, but recall the recent horror in Minnesota.

There, the gunman who killed two children in a church etched “Where is your God now?” on his ammunition and practiced his shooting on an image of Jesus Christ.

Just as St. Thomas More was beheaded in 1535 for clinging to his Catholic faith — famously declaring “I die the King’s good servant but God’s first” — dark forces are conspiring against truth as more young souls return to it.

Earlier this year, when an interviewer asked Kirk how he would want to be remembered, he had a simple response: “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith.”

So as the rain starts to fall here in Oxford, for centuries the West’s citadel of open debate and the pursuit of truth, Kirk’s courage has brought us to a crossroads.

Time to choose if we’re a society that stands behind freedom of conscience — or one that celebrates when a man is killed for his beliefs.

Colm Flynn is a correspondent for EWTN, global Catholic television.