The flood of recent news reports, commentaries, and social media posts about the record-breaking numbers of Catholic converts this Easter has left little doubt that something is stirring in the soul of America. From Los Angeles to New York City, Catholic dioceses large and small will welcome more new members at Easter than they have in years, in some cases decades — in some cases ever.
Most of the news coverage of this has focused on large, urban parishes in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and specifically on churches attracting disproportionate numbers of young people, especially young men. A recent piece in The Washington Post, purporting to explain “Why Catholicism is drawing in Gen Z men,” profiled St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, describing it as a place where 20- and 30-something men are looking for “truth, beauty, and, yes, girlfriends.” The Dominican-run St. Joseph’s also loomed large in an essay this week in The Atlantic about the religious renewal happening in Gen Z.
