Spiritual crisis? Hellenic-roman paganism may be the solution
02 July 2024
Ex-Catholic Romans have turned to Roman pagan gods to re-find their faith.
Named Pietas Comunitas Gentile, the group defines itself as a Roman religious organisation; it is inspired by the polytheistic traditions of the Roman Empire existing before Christianity took over in AD 380.
Disillusioned by Christianity's role in the modern world, they find better comfort in Roman antiquity. Reasons to join the movement are a-plenty and very different. A celiac Comunitas follower joined after being told by priests that Communion bread would not harm him. Spoiler: it did.
Comunitas have monthly and daily rituals – don't worry, no human or animal sacrifices any more! – where they preach Latin prayers in temples around Rome. Their pagan version of Jesus, or the Pontifex Maximus of Pietas as they have it, is Giuseppe Barbera. Barbera is an archaeologist, public speaker, and writer whose work focuses on the revival and growth of Roman traditional faith after being ‘dormant’ for 1,600 years.
Neopaganism, or the emergence of religions drawing inspiration from the ancient pre-Christian belief systems of Europe, is hardly an Italian phenomenon.
Countries like Cyprus and Greece, traditionally Orthodox, are seeing their own pagan revivals of ancient Greek beliefs and mythology. In this part of the southern region, Hellenism is rising thanks to the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) gaining official recognition as a "known religion" in Greece in 2017.
This year, Pietas and YSEE celebrated the summer solstice on 21 June with their first Hellenic-Roman conference. A hundred followers gathered at the Acropolis in Athens to honour Apollo amid rituals, decorative bay leaves, and deep red clothes – and some questionable Chat-GPT-generated titles for conferences, such as "Unlock the Secrets of the Greek Gods and Goddesses."
 | Martina Monti While paganism may not take over Christianity – at leastfor the moment – this might unexpectedly explain the social media trend that found a staggering number of people thinking about the Roman Empire at least once per day. Some even focus on the deities. |
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