Sights & Sounds: Archdiocese experiencing record number of conversions
Due to inclement weather on Feb. 22, the Rite of Election liturgies scheduled at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, were canceled. Instead, archdiocesan parishes hosted their own Rites of Election liturgies for catechumens, which followed a similar format to the Rite of Calling Candidates to Continuing Conversion, held at the cathedral on Feb. 21. During the Rite of Election, catechumens also signed their names in the Book of the Elect, which symbolizes their names being written into God’s Book of Life in Heaven.
Record numbers of people will become Catholic or complete their initiation into the Church during this year’s Easter season, according to newly released statistics from the archdiocesan Worship Office.
That continues a growth trend that began following the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 1,701 individuals will be added to the Catholic Church this Easter, 396 more than in 2025 (30% increase), 555 more than in 2024 (48% increase), and 710 more than in 2023 (72% increase).
Among that total are 645 catechumens — individuals who have never been baptized—who will celebrate the sacraments of baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at their parish’s Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, April 4. That is 81 more catechumens than in 2025 (14% increase), 189 more than in 2024 (41% increase) and 277 more than in 2023 (75% increase).
The total also includes 1,056 candidates—baptized Christians from a non-Catholic Church and baptized Catholics who have missed at least one required sacrament—who will celebrate their sacraments at some point during the Easter season this year. That is 315 more candidates than in 2025 (43% increase), 366 more than in 2024 (53% increase) and 433 more than in 2023 (70% increase).
Answering God’s call
“God always calls, but now a lot of people are answering,” said Father Armand Mantia, the Archdiocese’s director of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), the Catholic adult initiation process. Why? “In my opinion, people are desperate to believe in something during these very uncertain times. The Catholic Church offers them stability, hope for the future, and a defined core of beliefs that they can’t find elsewhere.”
The increasing number of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Newark reflects similar trends across dioceses worldwide. The Archdiocese of Westminster, England, has reported a 60% increase in conversions since last year, while the Archdiocese of Paris similarly announced that it will welcome its largest-ever group of converts to the Church this Easter (788).
“It shows God is working,” Father Mantia said. “People are realizing that the Catholic Church contains the fullness of the truth, the fullness of God’s message. It is the Church that was founded by Jesus Christ that has existed in a substantially unbroken form for over 2,000 years.”
To learn more about the OCIA process in the Archdiocese of Newark, visit www.rcan.org/ocia/.
You can view more photos of the Rite of Election at parishes by clicking HERE.
READ MORE: Hundreds from across archdiocese answer Call to Continuing Conversion
Featured image: Catechumens sign the Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election held at St. Bartholomew the Apostle Parish in Scotch Plains on March 1. (Photos courtesy of St. Batholomew the Apostle Parish)
