The U.S. Catholic Church experienced an estimated 38% increase in adult converts over the Easter weekend, driven by young men in their 20s, according to an analysis of data from 140 of the nation’s 175 dioceses.
Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app with more than 15 million registered users, analyzed aggregated diocesan data and found the Archdiocese of Los Angeles led the way, with a 139% increase from last year in Catholic converts via baptism and confirmation. That was followed by a 52% increase in Chicago and 36% growth in New York City.
Religious analysts interviewed on Monday flagged a surge in young men seeking traditional marriage partners after engaging in social media discussions with Catholics reacting against secular liberalism.
“Young men who felt rejected during COVID and the ’great awokening’ of our culture in the last decade have turned to the right,” said Brad Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociologist who studies marriage trends. “One of the few institutions welcoming them with open arms is the Catholic Church.”
He said conservative Catholic teachings have drawn a rising tide of young men to his public university’s Catholic chaplaincy.
“Now that Catholics occupy the highest echelons of U.S. civic leadership, and that an American is pope, it would make sense that a Catholic identity attracts those searching for status or efficacy within a chaotic world,” said Tricia Bruce, a Catholic sociologist affiliated with multiple institutions.
She cited a Pew Research Center study published in April 2025. It found men were more likely than women to agree that the Catholic Church should “stick to its traditional teachings, even if that means the church gets smaller.”
“Historically, women’s participation has surpassed that of men,” Ms. Bruce added. “We’re starting to see that trend reverse.”
Some church insiders noted that Catholics celebrated their first Easter with an American-born pope: Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago.
Others noted the influence of Vice President J.D. Vance, who converted to Catholicism at age 35 in 2019. Mr. Vance often cites Catholic principles as informing his opposition to transgender identity and legalized abortion.
“I think this reflects a pushback against secular liberalism, feminism, and transgender stuff,” said Michael New, a social researcher at the Catholic University of America. “Catholic young adult groups are one of the few places where many young people can question socially liberal positions without fear of being marginalized or ostracized.”
Resurrecting religiosity
This year’s Easter increase in Americans becoming Catholic builds on broader global and post-pandemic trends.
Catholic officials in France, Spain, Sweden and Norway have estimated similar spikes in adult converts.
According to Harvard University’s Cooperative Election Study, the share of adults claiming “no religious affiliation” fell steadily for three years. The number of these so-called “nones” dropped from 36.2% in 2022 to 31.8% last year, reversing decades of growth.
“A sizable proportion [of people] are looking for traditional or at least enduring values in the midst of a culture of uncertainty,” said the Rev. James Martin, an editor-at-large at America Magazine.
Looking ahead
Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate estimates that the number of Catholic converts dropped steadily from 173,674 people in 2000 to 70,796 in 2020.
Since then, the tally has increased from 74,972 in 2021 to 90,157 in 2024, surpassing the last pre-pandemic total of 89,339 converts in 2019.
The Rev. Tom Reese, a priest and senior analyst at Religion News Service, noted that it takes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops roughly two years to tabulate the annual number of converts.
This means the raw number of Catholic converts this year won’t become available until 2028.
“I want more data,” Father Reese said in a phone call. “If you want to say a Catholic revival is happening, I want to see the numbers going back to what they used to be.”
The church’s annual tally of converts excludes Hispanic immigrants, who are predominantly Catholic already. According to years of research, most join because they are marrying or seeking to marry a Catholic.
Meanwhile, Hispanic immigration has offset a steady stream of native-born Catholics abandoning their faith in adulthood since 1965. There are currently around 70 million members of the church nationwide, making it the country’s largest religious group.
Christian Smith, a retired sociologist at the University of Notre Dame who studies church trends, expressed skepticism that Catholicism is really growing.
“Don’t be gullible,” Mr. Smith said. “We need better stats over more time before concluding there is any real change happening here.”
