by Steve Gauthier with contributions from Deacon Jason Lavergne Have you seen the headlines? A record number of people are entering the Catholic Church! In France, over ten thousand people were baptized in 2025, the highest in twenty years. In London, a record number of adults are due to be received into the Catholic Church …
by Steve Gauthier with contributions from Deacon Jason Lavergne
Have you seen the headlines? A record number of people are entering the Catholic Church!
In France, over ten thousand people were baptized in 2025, the highest in twenty years. In London, a record number of adults are due to be received into the Catholic Church this Easter. In the United States, the number of people entering the Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Diocese of Camden New Jersey is the highest number in two decades. Closer to home, Saint Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M presently has over 420 people in their OCIA program.
Here in the Diocese of Alexandria, we’re setting records as well with over 130 projected to be received into Full Communion with the Catholic Church this Easter! That’s an increase from 93 last year, 105 in 2024, and 108 in 2023. In the years prior to 2023, the totals were 49, 61, 61, and 84. In a recent article in The Catholic World Report, of the 175 Latin-Rite Dioceses in the U.S., Alexandria ranks 9th (1 per 142 Catholics) in the nation in non-infant baptisms and 100th (1 per 118 Catholics) in infant baptisms. So, what’s going on?
Just as a reminder, OCIA stands for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. There’s also a program for children called OCIC. It’s the process by which unbaptized and baptized people from other faith traditions come into full communion with the Catholic Church. Each parish who offers OCIA, usually starts their formation classes in late August or September and ends during the Easter season the following year. And I say “usually.” This year there has been great interest in people wanting to join the Catholic faith outside of this normal cycle and the Diocese of Alexandria is responding. This year, the Diocese will host OCIA/OCIC formation on Sundays beginning on April 14 and ending late August for those who showed interest after the start of the normal cycle.
There are many people and organizations trying to figure out why people all over the world have a renewed interest in joining the Catholic Church. Many people in the Diocese of Alexandria have said that the impact of the ACTS ministry was part of their reason they are coming into the church. But that doesn’t explain the worldwide phenomenon. The Catholic Missionary Disciples organization wrote an article entitled “Why is OCIA Growing in the USA?” They list nine reasons for this phenomenon including a backlash against the rotten fruit of our modern culture, bountiful fruit from the National Eucharistic Revival, the fact that we live in the Golden Age of Catholic Resources, and that a greater number of Catholics are sharing their faith openly. There will be much effort put forth in years to come to isolate the key causes and to strive to keep this trend going. For whatever reason, people are opening their hearts, and the Holy Spirit is working.
In that, we can rejoice!
But there’s another side to the story that’s not so encouraging. In 2007, 24% of U.S. adults described themselves as Catholics. In 2025 that number was 20%. For every person joining the Catholic Church there are around 8 who leave. Why do I bring this up? Because we are not meant to be spectators in this drama, we are meant to be participants!
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, the newly named Doctor of the Church said “God has created me to do Him some definite service: He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have a Mission!” For each of us to participate in reversing this troubling trend we have a unique mission to evangelize our family, friends, and neighbors. Those are the people that God put in our circle of influence. And it’s easier than you might think.
We are all called by our Baptism to be heralds of the Good News! Imagine if each one of you reading this article would bring back one fallen away Catholic or brought one of our brother and sister from another faith into full Communion with the Catholic Church. What an impact that would have on our individual churches, community, Diocese and the world.
Many of us think that we do not know our faith well enough to evangelize or that it’s the role of the priest and deacon. It is our shared responsibility in this age to utilize the overwhelming resources available to help people learn about God and lead them to a personal encounter with Him. The Holy Spirit is moving in our Diocese and in the world. Are you willing to participate as a witness of the Gospel message?
I’ll end with an appropriate quote from Mother Angelica… “God wants you to be in the world, but so different from the world that you will change it. Get cracking.”
