Spike in adults joining local Church this year

By Dan Russo
The Catholic Messenger

OTTUMWA — This year, the Diocese of Davenport is among the dioceses worldwide that are seeing an unusual increase in the number of adults joining the Church. Local figures mirror a trend which has been gaining attention across the United States and in other countries.

“This year the numbers were a little higher,” said Deacon Frank Agnoli, diocesan director of liturgy and deacon formation. “For the most part, it’s been steady, at least for the last four years. This year the cathedral was full. I don’t know if this year is a one-off or not.”

Deacon Agnoli helps plan the Rite of Election for catechumens and Call to Continuing Conversion for candidates. The ceremonies this year were held Feb. 22 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and St. Mary of the Visitation Chur­ch in Ottumwa. Cate­chumens are people joining the Church who have never been baptized. Candidates are those who have been baptized in either the Catholic Church or other Christian traditions and are coming into full communion by receiving other sacraments of initiation.

Statistically speaking, the Church considers people 7 years and older who are joining the Church as “adults.” According to 2026 estimates provided by Deacon Agnoli, 137 catechumens will become Catholic in the Diocese of Davenport and 273 candidates will come into full communion. In 2025, there were 95 catechumens and 137 candidates. These figures are not official yet, but, if verified, would indicate a roughly 44% increase in catechumens and a 99% increase in candidates from one year to the next (2025 to 2026).

Deacon Agnoli explained that although most catechumens and candidates are welcomed during the Easter Vigil, not all are. The deacon is not exactly sure why there has been a dramatic jump this year. What is happening is encouraging, but Deacon Agnoli noted that figures used to be significantly higher in previous decades. “Going back 20 years, we had to do three ceremonies — two at the cathedral and one at Ottumwa,” he recalled.

Dioceses around the world compile data annually and send it to the Vatican in a document commonly called “The Rome Report.” The Catholic Messenger has compiled information on the number of catechumens and candidates from 2018-2026 with the help of Barb Butterworth, diocesan archivist, and Deacon Agnoli.

Beyond Numbers

This year’s increase was driven, in part, by large groups of candidates and catechumens from several parishes, including St. Joseph Parish-Ottumwa, where there were 15 catechumens and 21 candidates.

“The candidates that I have spoken to are returning Catholics who want to receive the sacrament of confirmation,” said Anna Maria Billy, director of evangelization for the parish. “They want to revive their spiritual strength, which they have realized can only be possible th­r­ough the Cath­olic faith. They are returning Catholics who, due to life’s many challenges, stopped coming to church because of personal matters and family affairs.”

Mary Alice Rader, one of the candidates, was raised Catholic, but stopped practicing.

“When she lost her mother several years ago, she fell into a great depression, and it didn’t help when more of her close relatives and friends passed,” said Billy. “And to add onto her great sorrow, she became really sick. So, she was not just mentally drained, but physically affected as well. She described those moments of being in a complete darkness and was just trying to find the light amidst all of it … And it was the memory of her mother and practicing faith that pushed her to seek the Church again.”

Billy, who oversees the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) at the parish — the formation program for catechumens and candidates — credits the Holy Spirit with moving people’s hearts. She recalled a catechumen who was also affected by the faith of a relative. The woman “loved and respected (her step dad) so much as he stepped up and took care of her and her family,” said Billy. “After his passing, she was filled with grief and the only comfort that truly soothed her heart was when she attended her stepdad’s church, the Catholic Church. It was then that she started coming to Mass and experienced what she described as a sense of peace.”

Muscatine

Another parish with a large crop of people joining the Church this year is Ss. Mary & Mathias Parish-Muscatine. The parish is welcoming 18 catechumens and 15 candidates. The parish has also responded to 14 people who have inquired about becoming Catholic, according to Father Chris Weber, the parish’s pastor.

Father Weber believes several factors have contributed to the boom — including the recent Eucharistic Revival.

“While none of the people in our Becoming Catholic process have mentioned this directly, I don’t think it’s possible for more than 60,000 people to gather for adoration and not see this kind of fruit as a result,” said the priest. “I also think this is an answer to the prayers of people closer to home. People in parishes all across the diocese have been praying for this for a long time.”

The pastor meets with all those becoming Catholic in the parish, and noticed common threads among them. Father Weber theorized that some of the return to the Church is a reaction to the “new atheist” movement. People such as authors/intellectuals Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins “tried to tear the faith down, but they didn’t offer anything in its place.”

The parish school, Saints Mary and Mathias, also plays a role, he believes. “Every year we have at least one or two families who come into the Church by way of our parish school. Our enrollment is roughly 60/40 Catholic/non-Catholic. I think a lot of that 40% enroll here because they like what they see,” he said.  “After a few years in our school they start to understand that … the thing that’s responsible for what they liked about it in the first place, is our Catholic faith, and some of those people decide they want that for themselves and their families.”

Evangelization on social media is also important, especially TikTok and YouTube. “One of the common stories I’ve heard is something along the lines of ‘I searched for something about the Catholic Church on YouTube, and then the algorithm started pointing me towards more and more good Catholic content.’ … I think when people — especially young people — finally decide to investigate the Catholic Church, and they go to Mass for the first time, they’re drawn to the beauty, the reverence, and the transcendence of the liturgy,”  Father Weber said.

The parish also makes a sustained outreach effort. “We encourage our parishioners to invite people,” said the pastor. “We also know that coming to Mass for the first time can be intimidating, so we try to offer events throughout the year that are easier to invite a first time visitor to.”

The Big Picture

In 2000, the number of candidates and catechumens in the United States was around 175,000. By 2020, it had dropped to 70,000. But, since then, the numbers have appeared to rise — with Real Clear Catholic researcher Shane Schaetzel projecting nearly 160,000 adult Americans have entered the Catholic Church in 2025, according to OSV News reports.

The Boston Archdiocese reported 458 catechumens in 2025, up nearly 100 from 2024. The Detroit Archdiocese saw one of the largest increases: 977 total people joining the Church in 2025, up from 793 in 2024. In the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, in 2025, officials reported that the number of candidates and catechumens were up nearly 40% over 2024, according to the diocesan newspaper The Observer.

Similar trends are taking place globally. In 2025, France saw more than 17,800 catechumens baptized at Easter — the highest number since national tracking began in 2002, OSV News reported. The Catholic Archdio­cese of Sydney, Australia announced Feb. 24 that 338 catechumens are preparing for baptism at the 2026 Easter Vigil, with another 119 candidates set to be received into full communion.

When speaking to catechumens and candidates this year at the cathedral, Bishop Dennis Walsh urged them to have courage: “As your bishop, I say to you: Do not be afraid. The desert is real. The journey is long, but the destination is the resurrection. You have been called. You have been chosen. Now, let us walk together toward the dawn.”

Anne Marie Amacher, assistant editor, contributed to this story.