Catholic dioceses report surges in adult converts across the US
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Catholic leaders in the U.S. are reporting sharp increases in the number of adults converting and say the trend is being driven primarily by young adults.
The Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., reports 1,701 people are preparing to join the Church, a 30% increase since 2025. Catholic Standard. Cleveland, Ohio, Boston, Mass., Portland, Ore., depending on the outlet. Other Archdioceses, including Archdioceses, reported similar increases.
Bishop Robert Barron told Fox News Digital: “Last year, we broke the record for the number of adults converted, and this year – so we’re doing what’s called the sacrament of election, which is when all the people enter the church – we broke that record again. So it’s a trend that can be seen all over the church, and it’s certainly true in my dioceses as well.” Bishop Robert Barron told Fox News Digital.
Catholic ministries on college campuses, including Texas A&M University, the University of Notre Dame and Arizona State University, are also reporting increased conversions, The Catholic Standard reported. According to The Catholic Standard, Notre Dame saw its largest group of new Catholics in at least 25 years; Last Easter, 125 people received the sacraments. The outlet noted that this year Notre Dame expects to have 163 candidates and catechumens, who are unbaptized individuals who have undergone conversion.
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At least 26,000 people from multiple regions attended the annual Catholic conference for young people, and church leaders said the large turnout demonstrated the continuing vitality of the Catholic Church. (Getty Images)
When speaking to new adult converts about their decisions, Barron said many describe themselves as “hungry for the truth.” He argued that this trend was partly a reaction to the rise of atheism in the early 2000s, with younger generations “inheriting this gloomy secular world” and now directing the “blame” to religion.
The bishop pointed to St. Augustine, saying the theologian’s words are still valid today.
“St. Augustine said, ‘Lord, you created us for yourself, and therefore our heart is restless until it rests in you,’ and that’s true,” Barron said. “There is a longing in the heart that nothing in this world can satisfy, and religion speaks to that.”
Bishop Robert Barron (left) speaks with President Donald Trump and other religious leaders at a National Day of Prayer event in the White House Rose Garden on May 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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The bishop also explained that many young adults are looking for something stable with strong roots as they navigate the modern world and its online distractions. According to him, Catholicism attracts new converts because of its 2000-year-old traditions.
“Our culture today is so temporary, isn’t it? It’s temporary…Catholicism touches on something much deeper, older and more permanent,” he said. “I also think people are attracted to the ritual expression of Catholicism. I mean, the beauty of our liturgy is that we don’t just gather in a boring room and sing pop songs, we engage in this ancient, beautiful ritual that involves vestments, incense, candles, old prayers and old hymns. And I think it speaks to people’s souls, especially young people.”
While talking about the beauty of the church, Barron also touched upon the sexual abuse scandals that emerged in the early 2000s. He said scandals were important for the Church to acknowledge and address, but for young adult converts they were “more of a memory” and “less of a lived, immediate reality.”
A woman holds a rosary and prays for the healing of Pope Francis during holy mass at the archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome on February 23, 2025. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
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In 2025, the Pew Research Center published findings on converts to Catholicism in the United States, saying that 1.5% of all adults in the country fit this category. According to Pew’s 2025 report, 92% of Catholics in the USA were raised in this religion, and the remaining 8% converted. When asked why they converted to Catholicism, the research center said, “The most common answer of converts was because of a spouse or to get married in the Church.” Meanwhile, others said Catholicism made sense to them or aligned with their values.
Now that the church has attracted these new converts, it is tasked with retaining them. The Church must first and foremost listen to them, Barron said.
“I think he needs to listen to them,” Barron told Fox News Digital. “You know, that’s something Pope Francis rightly emphasized, which is to first listen to them and find out what attracts them, maybe what keeps them away for a long time, what makes a difference.”
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Barron emphasized that ultimately the Church exists to bring people to faith.
“The Church is about the work of evangelization. So are we. I mean, every Catholic institution exists for the purpose of evangelization, which is to bring people to Christ. And so, people coming back to the Church make me happiest. That’s why the Catholic Church exists, to invite people back,” the bishop said.
