“A remarkable thing has been happening in the Catholic Church in the United States over the past few years: growth,” Rachel Lu wrote in her feature in America’s May 2026 issue. In her piece covering the increase in adults entering the Catholic faith, Ms. Lu explored varying perspectives on the possible religious revival and urged Catholics to greet new members of the church with love and grace. Ms. Lu argued that “converts bring unique gifts” and wrote, “All together we can produce a bright and vibrant future of our faith in this country.” Our readers had much to say in response.

What a wonderful, thoughtful piece. The resurgence isn’t just in the United States. I’ve worked a good bit in Paris. St. Sulpice, my usual parish there, has had a primarily elderly congregation for years, but when I recently returned, the pews were packed with people of all ages. I was shocked. They weren’t new immigrants either. They were the same ethnic French famous for their over a century of irreligion. I don’t think they were necessarily politically conservative. These are young people who came of age under Pope Francis. Like so many of us, they find something powerful in our 2,000-year tradition, something that transcends politics and resists simple categorizations.
John Watkins

Perhaps the parable of the sower (Mk 4; Mt 13; Lk 8) can provide some insight into the long-term commitment of these recent neophytes. We in the Catholic communities of our individual parishes will share responsibility to make sure that their seed is planted in fertile ground through our kindness, inclusiveness and non-judgmental behavior. Hopefully, by God’s grace, the hyper-dogmatic elements of the church will not trample these seeds.
Tadeusz Kleindienst

A big challenge will be maintaining the involvement of new Catholics. I’ve been in churches where new members and participants were quite enthusiastic when they first started coming, but for whatever reason “fizzled out” after a few months or a year or two. If these converts are impressed by Pope Leo XIV and his leadership, they just might stay for the long haul.
Hal Reed

My concern is what direction they lean. I’m aware no one can determine that at this point. I fear a conservative swing here, contrary to Pope Leo XIV. I hope I’m wrong.
Janet Stephens

Some may object to the new wave of converts as politically right wing by pointing to figures like JD Vance and Steve Bannon. But what if you were the person who helped them see what they didn’t understand and were a force for change in their lives the way Christ changed those he encountered? Our faith presupposes capacity for change to conform to God and that no one is beyond that possibility and that all are loved by God, as I understand it.
Mary Jean Cunningham

I find this new trend a hopeful sign and appreciate America’s coverage of it, and I don’t expect one article can cover every angle. Hopefully the trend continues and there are plenty more excuses to write about it in the future and surface perspectives on some of these questions.

Given the conversion trend is largely seen among younger millennials and zoomers, I wonder if the clergy abuse crisis lands differently for a generation that grew up with this scandal as a known quantity. Indeed, it was one among many American institutional scandals for these younger generations, whereas American Catholics who lived through the revelations had to grapple with a new reality of the church harshly confronting them.
Aaron Sinner

Many words have been written and spoken on this topic in recent days. Ultimately, we’ll see. My fundamental concern with the current trend of youthful exuberance is that it is driven more by social desires like seeking human connection, which is not itself bad, with little emphasis on the nitty-gritty complicated realities of being a disciple. I have a sense of young people flocking to Mass and devotional practices as a means of escaping society’s moral morass of immigration, war, inequity, etc., as opposed to being engaged with a church as it pursues a Gospel-imbued response.
Tom Lindner

This article appears in June 2026.