America has been shaken to its core by a number of Great Awakenings, major religious revival movements that helped inspire the American Revolution and the Civil War and took on social issues like slavery, women’s rights and labor reform.
Whether you count two or four or some other number, the Great Awakenings led to meaningful changes in our nation.
During the First Great Awakening, which began in the 1730s, Christians had had enough of the Age of Enlightenment, whose influencers stressed individualism and human reason
“It’s not just about human reason,” those who were swept up in the Awakening said. “It’s about the Word of God.”
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“It’s not just about conclusions you come to rationally; it’s about conversion through the Holy Spirit.”
As I explained in a recent talk to a strategic gathering of national pro-life leaders, I maintain that we may be living right now through a movement that history will look back on and declare a 21st century Great Awakening. This is the best news for the pro-life movement.
It’s no coincidence that Bible sales are unparalleled right now. According to the Christian Science Monitor, sales of the greatest book ever written increased 20 percent in 2023 and 11 percent in 2024. More than 18 million copies were sold in 2025.
The Bible contains truth and moral guidance and people are realizing they need it, they need meaning in their lives as much as they need food and water and oxygen.
Our young people, especially, need meaning. They’re certainly not getting it at universities or through social media. So they’re going to the Bible, and they’re going to church!
The Christian researcher and cultural analyst Georg Barna has been talking about increased church attendance among the Gen Z and Millennial populations, in much greater numbers than the Baby Boomers.
And then, even when they listen to media, university professors, and social media, they are seeing the terrain shift, as censorship and bias are challenged and uprooted through financial pressure, court challenges, and new leadership. Look at what happened to X, to CBS and CNN, and to the University of Pennsylvania, just to name a few. Woke is on the run.
All of these things portend well for pro-life. Who tends to be more pro-life, people who attend worship or those who don’t? Who believes in the sanctity of every human life, those who read the Bible or those who don’t?
Across denominations it’s the people who seek the Word and go to church who embrace the pro-life position. The idea of worshipping is the opposite of pro-choice. Their position is “I decide.” Among believers, we say, “Lord, you decide.”
Another sign of the Great Awakening I believe we are living is the string of Supreme Court victories, that just keep coming, strengthening the freedom of religion. For instance, the case Coach Joe Kennedy won, just a few years ago, upholding his right to pray on the public school ball field, undid the infamous “Lemon Test” that had plagued American jurisprudence for decades with Constitutionally unrecognizable “excessive entanglement” of religion and state.
Then just last month at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump announced that the Department of Education issued a guidance that day, clarifying that students, teachers and staff have the right to pray in school.
The pro-life movement can only benefit from having teachers praying in school.
If you’re still not convinced that a Great Awakening is upon us, head to Washington, D.C. on May 17, where President Trump has announced a major “Rededicate 250” prayer rally on the National Mall. The event is part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations and with it, the president aims to rededicate America as one nation under God.
And what else did he do in the meantime? He withdrew the United States (and our hard-earned tax dollars) from 66 international entities that were unfriendly to American values, including the right to life.
Make no mistake, something big is happening. We are leaving the absurdity of woke behind us. We are seeing the foundations and tools of the pro-life movement strengthened as never before. And despite very real struggles, the ground on which we stand, march and fight is more solid than ever.
LifeNews.com Note: Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life.
