The National Catholic Register is reporting some stunning growth in some of its dioceses, with a surprising amount of new converts coming from younger generations. According to the Register, some dioceses are reporting increasing of 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, with some even reporting growth of 70 percent or more in 2024. For example, the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, reported a 72 percent increase of converts between 2023 and 2024, rising from 896 to 1,544. Rev. Raymond Maria La Grange of the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer told The New York Post that many of his church’s new converts are in their 20’s and early 30’s. “Some were Protestants, some were nonreligious, some were Catholics who never practiced the faith. Both men and women,” he said. Some well-off, others living day to day. Some are intellectuals, some are mystics,” he said. “Some got to know Catholics who brought them in, others came in on their own and hardly know any Catholics. It is a fun time to be a priest. It’s busy, in a good way.”

The pandemic seems to be a big driver in the shift. “Up until that point, I was such a workaholic, but during the pandemic, I started thinking and revisiting my criticisms of Christianity. I just started reading the Bible, and I found so much wisdom and beauty and meaning,” said Sydney Johnston, who grew up nondenominational but joined the Catholic church last December. The pandemic encouraged her to seek more beyond her life. “I had this question on my mind, like, do I feel God here? Does this feel like a holy place? And so I really paid attention to the aesthetic and spiritual aspects of the services. And I ultimately just felt myself most drawn to the Catholic Mass.” “People are just looking for something that’s authentic and real. They’re looking for something that’s grounded and seems to make sense,” said Father Will Straten of St. Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M.

The increase is present in the UK as well, where Catholics aged 18 to 34 outnumber Anglicans 2 to 1. These new, younger converts are driven by an increased interest in prayer, Bible reading, and social activism. “Premier Christianity magazine has written that many young people are rejecting the looseness and moral flexibility of modern society. Raised ‘against a backdrop of perma-conflict’ and an increasingly secular landscape, they view traditional Catholicism as ‘a beacon of cultural defiance,’” reported The Times. “What such young people seem to crave is a sense of belonging and meaning based on moral clarity and structure, coherence and consistency.” With the recent passing of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church stands to possibly gain even more converts with the election of a new Pope who could potentially speak more to these younger converts.