An interesting trend is bubbling up within the church: a revival of sorts that is leading to large numbers of people either entering the church or coming into full Catholic communion. Many of them are young people.
In 2000, the number of people who converted to the Catholic Church was around 175,000. By 2020, it had dropped to 70,000. But since then, the numbers have been appearing to rise -- with Real Clear Catholic researcher Shane Schaetzel projecting nearly 160,000 adult Americans will have entered the Catholic Church in 2025.
As OSV News reported in April, an explanation for the increase wasn't immediately available. It might represent a post-COVID sacramental boom, or be an effect of the National Eucharistic Revival, or indicate more individuals are seeking community or authenticity. It might be all of these -- or it might be something else.
Whatever it is, those working in ministry on the ground are saying that something is happening.
"We just brought 70 people into the Church this past weekend (30 baptisms and 40 professions of faith)!" Kevin Pesek, formation campus minister and director of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and marriage preparation for St. Mary's Catholic Center at Texas A&M University, announced Nov. 17 on Facebook. The Aggies, who dedicated a new church building July 29, 2023, designed to seat 1,500 people, has long had a vibrant Catholic campus ministry, which includes powerful retreats that have been taking place since 1983. Of 81,000-plus Texas A&M undergraduate and graduate students, an estimated quarter of them are Catholic.
"Our students are the ones inviting people to Mass, or are living a life that is prompting questions," said Pesek. "They are the ones inviting people to come and see -- and people are coming, and seeing, and being blown away."
"We had a big class in November, but my Easter class is going to be about 150 people," he guessed. "We're looking at like 50 baptisms at Easter. We don't have any more baptismal robes."
Pesek, who also ran out of chairs, said he now has 70 small group leaders.
"It's such a huge witness for them to meet other college students that are actually living their faith. They don't know what it looks like," he said. "If we just show people what's possible, sometimes I think that's an incredibly moving experience for them."
In the Archdiocese of New York, Father Jonah Teller -- a Dominican priest and a parochial vicar at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Greenwich Village -- told OSV News the number enrolled in his parish's OCIA program has tripled since last year, with roughly 130 people signing up.
"There's been a swell of interest in the faith -- especially from younger people -- in the past two; three years," Father Teller told OSV News. "And anecdotally, that's been true all around the country with friends -- other priests or laymen I know -- working in OCIA programs in Arizona; South Carolina; Virginia; here; at Brown University. There's an increase in numbers. And it seems clear to me," he added, "that the Lord is doing something."
Father Teller suggested a polarized society is prompting people to hold stronger views; that the unchurched state of many young people means "they don't have some kind of built-in animosity towards the faith" and that worldly attractions have lost their luster.
"We live in the most luxurious era of the world and materially -- especially here in New York City -- everything's at your fingertips; you can do whatever you want. And it just doesn't make people happy," Father Teller shared. "There's spiking anxiety. There's a total fragmentation of society, and a real desire for connection -- and the options of the world, they've kind of drained them dry. They realize, 'What the world is promising just hasn't made me happy. So I'll try God.' And behind it all is the grace of God -- that's fundamentally the thing at work."
At the University of Notre Dame -- where 82% of incoming first-year students are Catholic -- 125 new Catholics received the sacraments last Easter. It was the largest group there in at least 25 years.
Brett Perkins, assistant director for evangelization and religious education in the Office of Campus Ministry, called it "another boom year.
"Last year, we had 52 participants. Of those, 21 or 22 were true catechumens, unbaptized. And we thought, 'Gosh, that's our biggest group in probably over 30 years.' And we're like, 'OK, well, maybe that was just a blip and it'll be lower next year,'" Perkins told OSV News.
It isn't. This year, their numbers are even higher, with 76 participants so far this year.
"Of those 76, I have 42 that are unbaptized," Perkins said. "So almost twice what we saw last year, in terms of true catechumens."
Perkins said digital resources from star evangelizers such as Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, head of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, and popular podcaster Father Mike Schmitz have helped attract people to the faith. But at the same time, "for a lot of them, the journey started with meeting folks who were passionate about their faith," he told OSV News. "They're willing to come investigate and realize that, 'Whoa, these people are on fire for Jesus and his church. And also, just really normal.'"
Like Father Teller, Perkins thinks the culture may be contributing.
"I think we're at a unique juncture, where people are perhaps uniquely open to receive the Christian message," he suggested. "It's so refreshing compared to other messages present in society or in culture right now."
In the Archdiocese of Boston, Archbishop Richard G. Henning has been on the road traveling around the archdiocese since his Oct. 31, 2024, installation, and has seen a renewal of faith especially among young people, which has "filled me with joy and hope," he told OSV News in a statement.
Archbishop Henning has visited student ministries and celebrated Mass at colleges and universities in the archdiocese in the past year. He also has met with FOCUS missionaries, Shalom missionaries and St. Paul missionaries, and engaged with young adult communities in South Boston, Brighton, Cambridge, Brookline and the North End. More than a dozen high schools and two dozen elementary and middle schools have also been part of his academic itinerary -- giving him a finger on the pulse of revival at the local level.
"In high schools, in young adult communities, and above all on the college campuses, I am meeting young people who come to Mass, join Bible studies, spend time in adoration, serve the poor and seek the sacrament of penance," he said. "It has become clear to me that these young people seek a depth of purpose and meaning that our culture and its screens cannot offer. I give thanks to God for the gift of their young faith."
"These young people are not just the future of the faith, they are at the heart of it here and now," Archbishop Henning added.
In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Kathy Fech -- coordinator of sacred worship in the Office of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship -- told OSV News while estimates are preliminary, "we're definitely seeing in our early gathering of numbers for the Rite of Election that parishes are turning in similar, if not slightly higher, numbers than last year."
At Easter, there were 977 people preparing to receive sacraments (400 catechumens; 577 candidates) up from 793 people (360 catechumens; 433 candidates) in 2024.
Fech believes this confirms parishes are successful with outreach efforts. Nonetheless, she admits, "I did see a Pew statistic from earlier this year that they believe we're losing eight Catholics to every one that's joining the church."
Indeed, Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study -- released in February -- revealed that for every 100 people who join the Catholic Church, 840 leave.
"And so I point that out," Fech continued, "to say that our work is crucial. Because if we can gradually increase these incremental numbers, we can start lessening that gap."
Sherry Weddell, co-founder and executive director of the Catherine of Siena Institute and author of "Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path To Knowing and Following Jesus" (OSV, 2015), told OSV News that it takes time for confirmed numbers of new Catholics to be verified.
"If every (diocese in the United States) saw dramatic increases in OCIA -- say, 100 -- that's nearly 200,000 additional people entering the church," she said. "That would actually show up for Pew, but it has to be at that level. Not a hundred here and a hundred there."
While the church waits to see what 2026 might bring, there's no doubts that signs are hopeful.
"I see the Spirit of God moving across the communities of the region," Archbishop Henning said. "There is a revival of faith reflected in so many settings, but the effects of that revival are most dramatic among the young."
