“The Trust of Youth in Religious Institutions” is the topic of a panel discussion that will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at the premises of the Archdiocesan Youth Pastoral Center “John Paul II” in Sarajevo, starting at 2:00 p.m.
This panel discussion aims to explore the reasons behind and the extent of trust that young people have in religious communities/institutions in BiH. During the discussion, experts in sociology, theology, and philosophy will provide a broader perspective on this topic, offering insights into where youth trust in religious institutions stems from and how much influence these institutions exert on the attitudes and opinions of young people.
The panel will feature the following speakers: Sarina Bakić, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo, Department of Sociology, Šimo Maršić, professor of pastoral theology and director of the Archdiocesan Youth Pastoral Center “John Paul II,” Ahmet Alibašić, professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo, and Pavle Mijović, professor at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Sarajevo.
In 2024, the Institute for Youth Development KULT conducted a survey on political literacy of youth in BiH, one of the few in BiH that is based on a representative sample of young people from the entire country. The study examined young people’s attitudes and opinions on various topics, revealing their level of political literacy and their participation in political and social events.
The survey results indicate that nearly half of respondents reported being somewhat or extremely interested in politics and political events. Notably, men showed greater interest in politics than women.
The most common form of political engagement of young people is voting in elections. In the 2024 elections, data from the Central Election Committee shows that 45.3% of young people voted. Two years earlier, in the 2022 general election, over 47% of young people in BiH exercised their right to vote. It is clear that, over the past few election cycles, there has been a trend of declining voter turnout among young people. Conversations with young people revealed that their motivation for voting is driven by a sense of civic duty and a desire for change. However, some also expressed voting out of “fear that their vote might be misused.”
Respondents were also asked how much trust they have in the work of certain political and social actors. The results showed that religious institutions are the most trusted by young people among all political and social actors in BiH, with 56.1% young people saying they trust them. In other words, one in five respondents fully trusts religious institutions. A quarter of young people are undecided, and 15.7% said they do not trust religious institutions at all.
“I trust religious communities because I honestly think that they don’t have anything to do with politics. They seem to be labelled as political, but I don’t think they are. The way they operate doesn’t really allow them to be too closely involved with politics,” said one focus group participant.
On the other hand, some young people in the focus groups were not particularly positive toward religious communities, mainly because they believe those institutions are too entangled in politics.
“Unfortunately, I don’t fully trust them because I feel like they’ve become too involved in politics, and they really should distance themselves from it. Because those two things are simply incompatible and should not have any contact with each other,” said a focus group participant.
Some young people stated they don’t have a problem with religious institutions in general but do not blindly trust certain religious figures.
“I trust them and I go to church every Sunday. I mean, I believe in God, but in general, when it comes to priests, I know some who are dishonest, but I know a lot of good ones as well,” said another focus group participant.
The research results show that young people in BiH primarily seek information on internet portals (76.7%) and social media, with Instagram and Facebook being the most popular platforms. Additionally, more than half of young people receive information through conversations with family, friends, or colleagues.
When asked about the state of democracy in BiH, the majority responded that it is neither good nor bad (38.5%). Another 15% believe it is fairly good, and 1.8% see it as very good. Altogether, 16.8% of young people think the state of democracy in BiH is fairly or very good.
After religious institutions, the most trusted institutions among youth are: law enforcement (39%), non-governmental organizations (38.4%), members of the academic community (37.7%).
In contrast, political parties enjoy the lowest level of trust among youth. Almost half of young people (48.1%) claim that they have no trust in political parties, while 42.8% of young people said that they neither trust or distrust them. Only 3.1% of young people trust politicians.
Political literacy among young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina can only be improved through a structured and systematic approach that would involve both formal and informal education to achieve the best results. This is just one of the conclusions from the survey on youth political literacy conducted by the Institute with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in BiH (SIDA).
If you are interested in learning more about this topic and talking to the panelists, you can fill out the application HERE.
