While exact numbers are not available, the current estimates are that around 100,000 American adults entered the Catholic Church this Easter. In many dioceses, these are some of the highest on record, while for others they are merely the best in 20 years, which is the case where I live.
Because good news never goes unpunished, some Catholic media have tried to throw shade on the trend by noting that these numbers do not represent a net increase, something I noted in my Palm Sunday post.
However, by raising this criticism they are failing to understand the moment. For my entire lifetime the Catholic Church has been in decline, and not long ago, the vocations were in such dire shape that scholars were predicting how long it would be before they went extinct.
Yet now there is a surge in interest in the vocations, and it shows no signs of slowing down. This in many ways is more important than overall conversions because without energetic, committed priests and the support of nuns, monks and religious sisters, the Church will struggle not only to reach more converts but also retain those she has won. There is a profound difference in the energy and activity between a priest closing in on retirement and one in the prime of life, let alone just beginning his ministry.
Energy creates energy, and the seminaries right now are filling up with devout, doctrinally orthodox and ardent young men. We are also seeing remarkable growth in female vocations, both among the cloistered and those out in the world.
But the top-line numbers are also encouraging. If nothing else, the downward spiral has stopped and demonstrably started to reverse itself. If the quantity of converts seems to be lacking, the quality is arguably of a different sort than what we saw before.
The adults received into the Church in years long passed typically were of two kinds: those motivated by social reasons (family pressure, marriage) versus those seeking spiritual consolation. When cultural Catholicism was still a powerful force, wayward children could still be convinced to become confirmed or convert simply because it made Grandma happy. It was also common for spouses to convert rather than have a ‘mixed marriage.’ These reasons are perfectly valid, but the result was not necessarily a triumph of evangelization.
What we are seeing now is that the current wave of converts are motivated by a personal spiritual need rather than family social pressure. Because of this, they are now perfectly placed to evangelize, and they have a uniquely effective way to communicate with their old affiliation, whether it be Protestant, Muslim or even atheist.
That was unlikely to happen in the case of someone placating a parent or simply taking the path of least resistance for their marriage. To put it another way, people who convert because it’s convenient are not likely to become enthusiastic evangelists.
This is not to say that social pressure may not be in play. Fads are absolutely a thing, and as I’ve noted elsewhere, the increasing number of celebrities coming out as Catholic is both a good thing, and indicative of growing societal acceptance. Indeed, as much as people decry conformity, when properly directed, it’s a wonderful thing.
We want to live in a society where crime is socially stigmatized, when people feel “peer pressure” not to be a jackass but instead behave with civility. This used to extend to religion as well, and the world was better off because of it.
My parents’ generation felt that the conformist world they grew up in was stifling and restrictive, and so Gen X was raised without guardrails, and while this was supposed to be liberating, it was actually terrifying. Add into the massive disruption of rampant divorce, broken homes, collapsing family formation and it is not surprising that people desperately want to turn away from that.
Of course, there are still countervailing trends, and (depending on who you ask) the Catholic Church is still losing more people than are coming in, but the ones heading out are generally old, theologically liberal and seeking Protestantism as a form of “easy button Christianity.” The exchange of jaded Boomers for zealous Zoomers is a net positive for the faith and society as a whole.
Obviously, I retain the hope that those who stray will yet return home, but in practical terms I’m not sure what could be done to retain people so manifestly at odds with the Church’s teachings, which many of these clearly are.
Put simply, I have learned to choose hope over pessimism, and tomorrow I shall eat meat on a Friday with great joy. Christ is Risen!
Chateau Lloyd 
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