Something is stirring in the Church.
Around the world, young people are flocking to the Church!
This Lent, we have seen multiple reports of record numbers of Gen Z converting to the Faith.
Not only that. It’s happening in countries you wouldn’t expect. For over 100 years, the Faith in Europe and North America has been in decline (if not outright retreat) under the forces of atheism, materialism, and state-sponsored mass migration.
Many Catholics had given up hope of St. John Paul II’s predictions of a “second Spring.”
Could this be it?
Here are just a few of the most recent stats:
- At this year’s Easter Vigil, more than 10,384 adult catechumens will enter the Church in France. For perspective, that’s a 160 percent increase from 2015’s record.
- More remarkable: 42 percent of these converts are between 18 and 25 years old!
- In the United Kingdom, 41 percent of churchgoers aged 18 to 34 are Catholic (vs. only 20 percent Anglican).
- In the United States, at least 20 dioceses – from Boston to Phoenix and everywhere in between – report significant increases in the number of catechumens preparing to enter this weekend.
In general, the decline of Christianity seems to have halted here in America. A recent Pew study shows that for the last three years, Christians have held steady at just over 60 percent of the population. (This is remarkable, considering that between 2007 and 2021 the number dropped by over 12 percentage points.)
All these numbers indicate that something beautiful is happening… Nature, it seems, is healing.
I mean that, by nature, the human soul – and especially in young people – yearns for the beauty of the infinite, for the summum bonum, the highest good.
The cultural rot and societal stagnation that the West has suffered over the centuries haven’t erased that basic fact.
The numbers don’t lie: The loss of Christian faith only sharpened our hunger for God. And thankfully more and more young people are finding the answer to all their questions in Jesus Christ.
This Holy Week, join me in giving thanks.
The future of the Church is bright.
So let’s recommit ourselves to building – with our newest brothers and sisters! – a civilization of love. After all, that’s why CatholicVote exists.
It’s why you and I exist.
Thanks be to God.