“Why Are So Many People Becoming Catholic?” This is the title of a recently released study that originated in our neighboring Archdiocese of Chicago. It was occasioned by numerous reports of significantly increased numbers of people who came to the Catholic Church as part of the Vigil Mass for Holy Saturday night this past April. The survey taken up for the study also sought to document and understand the rising interest in faith expressed particularly by young people.
Twenty dioceses throughout the country participated in the archdiocesan study. While the Diocese of Rockford was not part of this initiative, the results are still of significant interest for us. In our diocese the increase of faithful baptized into the Catholic Church or confirmed in order to complete their Sacrament of Initiation on Holy Saturday night rose 67% over the number who did so in 2025. And the 2025 number was itself a 40% increase over 2024.
The increase in interest in faith and in the Catholic Church raises a number of questions addressed by the survey. Those are questions that can help us to have an insight into what is motivating this movement at this time. It can also help to adjust our catechesis, preaching and pastoral outreach to help those searching for faith to adjust more easily to a new life in the practice and belief in the Catholic faith.
The study showed that those who came to the Church in April were almost equally drawn from among those who previously practiced in another Christian denomination, from among the so-called “nones” (those previously religiously unaffiliated), and from Catholics who wished to complete their sacraments with the Eucharist and/or confirmation.
Also of interest is that those coming into the Church were fairly equally divided in gender, with slightly more women than men. Further, some of the motivating reasons given for coming to the Catholic faith were a search for truth and a deeper relationship with God, attraction to the liturgy and to the institutional Church, and the desire to participate in a community of faith and its acts of charity.
The study also addressed what it terms “challenges.” That is, what held the respondents back, or what caused them worry or discomfort about coming to the Church. This category should be particularly interesting to us because it hints at attitudes and actions that each of us can carry out personally to help integrate those coming to the Catholic faith.
Not surprisingly, the potential disapproval of those close to them was cited as an obstacle by many since those loved ones often did not share this newfound faith. Additionally, those entering the Church were concerned about a feeling of being spiritually unprepared since they often didn’t know many fellow believers and were worried about whether they would find acceptance. Often, too, the respondents cited their lack of familiarity with the liturgy and the intimidation that it caused them.
Ultimately, coming into the faith is not simply a result of a program or a strategy meant to attract potential believers. Rather, it is a combination of God’s gift of grace joined to a free will act of faith. It is a spiritual reality that leads each one who responds or rejects faith to their final destiny in eternal life.
Jesus has given us the truth that will set us free. But He has also established His Church to keep His Word and His Presence in the world until He comes again. Just as Jesus preached and witnessed, He charged the Apostles and all believers, including us, to witness and to love each other as His followers.
So how can we help these new believers?
Get to know them. Ask their name. Welcome them. Find ways to convey to them the meaning and beauty of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist and the sacrament of penance. We need to learn to understand and articulate faithfully and joyfully our moral teachings, not as some sort of imposition against our freedom, but as God’s wise means of making us more truly human.
We are living through a challenging time that often dismisses the very idea and existence of God. But those coming to the faith are reminding us of our own calling and the love and grace entrusted to us. Let’s find the ways to share those gifts fully and faithfully with those who are searching.
