New Atheism has consumed itself on the principle of reflexive contrarianism against orthodox Christianity. Sacrifice, family, and any other true, beautiful things that made life worth living are replaced with tired cynicism. The promised land of Atheism is nothing more than a burnt out forest, leaving nothing for us to do but attempt to fill ourselves with things and endless passions to pass the time. But this worldview of hedonism has clearly failed – it is not working and never has worked. The idea that we merely exist and have to make our own happiness is a failed experiment. Depression is at an all time high, people are mindlessly coasting through life without any sense of purpose, and even the atheist dogma of “do whatever you want as long as it hurts no one else” runs out of novelty when one realizes he is chasing a high with diminishing returns. The atheist believes that the Christians are fools, and yet he himself stumbles through life like the walking dead.
People have had enough of Nihilism and Absurdism. Living in a world without purpose is hell. Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is my favorite example of this, in which a man finds himself absurdly transformed into a grotesque giant bug only to be destroyed by his family. In the end, his hard work and deeds as the breadwinner of the family went unrecognized and unappreciated, as the family was preoccupied with his sister’s marriage prospects. He is a man destroyed by the world, while he was tragically conscious of a reality deeper than his own, only to be killed off without any other thought. St. Augustine’s wisdom is relevant in every age when man loses his sense of self: “Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.”
Our generation is not the first to confront the despair of Atheism. Blessed Bartholomew Longo, known as the ‘Apostle of the Rosary’, passed through the abyss before us. He was born in Italy in 1841 and lived through the unification of Italy and World War I before his death in 1926. Despite his Catholic upbringing, he lost his faith as a young college student in Naples. There, he came to find the concept of God absurd, embracing the dogmas of Atheism. After all, wasn’t that the new standard of human intellect? No more need for devotion to God, rather he would devote his worship to himself. He joined the Satanist movement that the Catholic Church in Italy was fighting during the turmoil of Italian unification. Finally he was free from the shackles of religion. Finally, Atheism would carry mankind into the future unopposed by backward superstition. However, it was the hedonism brought by his embrace of atheism that led to his depression in the first place.
His new lease on life turned into a hedonistic nightmare, plunging him into depression and anxiety. So much so that he was always contemplating suicide, as he couldn’t take the pain much more. This sorrow is very relatable to young men in our age, where alienation, loneliness, and suicide have reached epidemic proportions. Longo’s hedonism and atheism were a combination that could only lead to purposelessness, depression, and in the worst cases: suicide. Bartholo was not healthy during this time: he wanted to die. The same madness that was captured in Kafka’s absurdist novel was the only thing to think about for this satanic priest. Yet the twisted joke was that his depressive thoughts said that his thoughts didn’t matter. There was no difference between existence and nonexistence, life and death; why not, then, just eat, and drink, and be merry?
Men who have succumbed to our culture’s practical nihilism can relate to this experience. Feeling like you’re not enough, that your life doesn’t matter, that there’s nothing you can do to get better. Dissociating from the present moment has become popular with young people for this reason, because looking at reality this way without a reason to be is too much to bear. Why are there new atheists who don’t look to the conclusions of atheism as nihilism and despair? Because it’s too much to bear. And the idea of making life have meaning is not appealing either, when this world has forces and wills of people who would do anything to get their way which could include getting rid of you. And at some point, those who hurt themselves can be understood for their desperation to escape a society that glorifies existential atheism. Doing what you want for the rest of your life is not satisfying.
Bartholo could have just remained as a zombie, persisting in his self-destructive hedonism until his depression got the better of him. But there’s something about this world that atheists don’t understand: that there is real love. Sacrifice. Hopes and dreams that aren’t bound to one’s ego but to the nature of creation itself. We were created by Love, for love. And not romantic platitudes but rather giving ourselves up for others. This is what saved Bartholo: a college professor from his hometown who saw his distress and pain. Instead of letting Bartholo wander into the abyss of self destruction, he came back into his life to tell him that he needed to return to God. His professor had introduced him to Fr. Radente, a Dominican priest who talked with Bartholo about the faith and got him on the right track. All he needed was someone to guide him to Christ in a way that he would understand. Fr. Radente encouraged him to return to the faith, becoming his confessor and advising him to pray the rosary so that his mind would escape from nihilism and return to a state of hope given by the Blessed Mother. She who had sorrowed at the foot of the cross could help ease his own sorrows. Today, the example of this professor and Fr. Radente making sacrifices of love for Bartholo is what young men need: reassurance from someone who loves them, who shows that they are willing to walk into that abyss with them to show them light. Over time, the depression and sorrow Bartholo felt over his sins were healed as the Blessed Virgin Mary saved him with intercession from the rosary. His devotion to the rosary was powerful because he had seen the effects of the graces saving himself.
Bartholo shared this with others as he would return to the occult meetings he used to worship at only to say to his former comrades that they must repent. He preached the rosary as a means by which God saves people from despair. He saw himself as a sinner and did not dare to lose himself in his newfound humility. This rang true for the rest of his life, as he became a father to orphans by starting an orphanage with a widow whom he married. Despite being celibate, he was married. Despite being childless, he was a father. Despite being lost, God had found him once again. His story should motivate young men everywhere who decide to leave the practical atheism of our society and come into the Church seeking God. If this man who was tortured by depression, the self-destructive spiritual practices of the occult, and pervasive nihilism can come out again, then anyone can. We have a saint who shows young men that there is a way out of the abyss of nihilism to be born again with Christ. In an age that hates children, look to Bartholo as an example of a man who fathered orphans whose own fathers were imprisoned for crimes. A society that looked down on the orphaned children of criminals was challenged by a man who loved and embraced them as his own. Young men can have families and children in a society that hates children. They can find love again through the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. They can marry and find a purpose that is not tied to mere hedonism. Regardless of the depths of hedonism and evils they have been through or committed, forgiveness and redemption is possible for anyone.
Young men have been motivated to go back to church, and not just any church but specifically to orthodox Christianity. They have been encouraged by spiritual leaders to start families, to be on fire for the faith, and change the culture of nihilism they have fled from by leading their lives with Christ.
Bartholomew Longo challenges the young men who desire to leave the abyss of nihilistic and absurdist atheism to take up their cross and enjoy living. Not hedonistically by doing whatever they want or deem fit, but rather by loving others with their own sacrifice. The New Atheists often charged that religion was harmful because it restrained us from doing whatever we wanted to do. And yet, Bartholo was only happy when he gave up his life in service of others by proclaiming the saving power of Jesus through the rosary. Isn’t it wonderful to know that even in the abyss of nihilism, love itself drowns out the darkness? Isn’t it wonderful that love itself would chase us to the far reaches of our despair to give us life? That is why Bartholo Longo is a man of heroic saintly virtue, and why he encourages us who have fled from this culture of practical atheism to finally find a reason to live for – by being with God.
Bl. Bartolo Longo will be canonized on October 19, 2025
