French, Catholic And Proud: Gay Marriage Battle Fuels New Kind Of Youth Revolution

This interesting article looks at the movement of young, orthodox and fervent Catholics in France.  It is easy to see the parallel here in the US, although the article makes it sound like this is a newer movement there than here.

"PARIS - Everyone thought they had disappeared, and they had indeed become invisible to most of us. But for the past six months, they have been resurfacing and taking to the streets relentlessly to protest against gay marriage.
They use their networks to organize events and rallies, as well as candlelit sit-ins and vigils. As defenders of the so-called traditional family, they represent a large proportion of those who march against same-sex marriage.
“It is a real groundswell,” says Christine Pedotti, editor-in-chief at Témoignage chrétien (“Christian Testimony”), the only Catholic magazine to favor gay marriage. “These young conservative activists obey the Church hierarchy and are addicted to family values and genuflecting. This is the new face of the Church.”
This new generation of Catholics – the John Paul II and Benedict XVI generation – became the unexpected sentinel of the Church in the battle against gay marriage, which started on August 15 with a “Prayer for France.”

I find the tone of the article amusing:  sort of where did these young people come from and how did this happen?  I imagine that France is more secularized than America so this must be much more shocking to the French:

"Sister Nathalie Becquart is the head of the French national youth evangelism service. She says, “Trying to understand this phenomenon is like being an explorer in Papua New Guinea.” These “Catholics 2.0” have their own codes, their own priorities and communication methods (see video below).
The 43-year-old nun – a graduate of France’s top business school HEC and a former marketing and communications consultant – is astonished by how religious practices have evolved in the past five years, even among young people from less privileged backgrounds and immigrants: “At the end, they were all on their knees.”