THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, APRIL 19, 2026

I reported a few weeks ago in the bulletin that there were 28 adults receiving baptism or confirmation at Saint John's and Holy Redeemer this Easter season. The number is now 29 because there is one additional adult in Holy Redeemer's Chinese language OCIA (RCIA) class.

Of the 29, 20 are joining the Catholic Church through baptism or confirmation, and 9 are adult Catholics who were never confirmed. Ordinarily when Catholic adults get confirmed, it signifies a return to Catholic practice for someone who was baptized Catholic, but who has not recently been practicing. Virtually all of our converts are young adults, in their 20s and 30s.

This is an amazing number of people who are beginning or returning to Catholic practice!

We are doing something right at Saint John's, but we are also part of a wider trend. Here are some statistics from various US Catholic Dioceses. I give here the percentage of increase of converts in 2026 as compared with 2025:

Archdiocese of Philadelphia: 60% increase
Archdiocese of Oklahoma City: 57% increase
Archdiocese of Newark, NJ: 30% increase
Archdiocese of Mobile, AL: 35% increase
Archdiocese of Boston: 55% increase

A recent survey of 71 US dioceses revealed that 66 dioceses report a large increase in the number of converts, while just 5 dioceses report a small decrease. This phenomenon is not just a USA reality. This year quite a few European countries, France and Ireland for example, are reporting record numbers of young adult converts. In France for example, in 2025, there were 10,384 adult baptisms, the highest number in two decades; in 2026 there are likely to be more than 20,000 adult converts!

Before we get too excited, the overall story is still about decline. However, there are important positive trends:

The percentage of Americans reporting that they are "atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular" has dropped. In 2022 the percentage was 36.2%, in 2023 25.6%, in 2024 43.1% and in 2025 31.8%. This is a drop of nearly 5% in 4 years, a definite trend. This trend is reported in several surveys, not just one outlier.
Long term, there has been a major decrease in the percentage of Catholics attending Sunday Mass. However, across the USA, Mass attendance has returned to pre-Covid numbers. When all churches closed for Covid, most predicted that this would accelerate the decline that has been ongoing for several decades and that we would not get back many Catholics who stopped attending Mass during the Covid shutdowns. But that is not the case. Some dioceses are reporting overall increases in Mass attendance beyond the pre-Covid levels.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia does an annual "October count" of all people attending Mass during the month of October. It is the way that they track Mass attendance numbers in each parish and across the Archdiocese over many years. In October 2025, compared with October 2024, Mass attendance was up 7.5%. On average 11,000 more people in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia attend each Mass each week, compared to a year ago.

Again, I emphasize that there has been a decline in Catholic practice over the last half century and we are not going back to old levels of Catholic practice. But people still yearn for God. People still seek meaning. People still want absolution from their own sins. The message of Jesus is still relevant and attractive.

I am pleased that what is happening across the US and in some places in Europe is happing at Saint John's. Let's keep working to invite people to find Christ and to embrace Catholic faith.

Capuchin friars in Bangladesh asked for help for a desperately poor monastery of cloistered nuns. They needed $12,000 to repair their roof. We had a special collection at Saint John's and Holy Redeemer and we raised about $25,000. We sent the Sisters $18,000, more than they asked for, and the rest we sent to a poor Diocese in South India to build a school. This is the letter from the Sisters:

Dear Father Tom and our friends from Holy Redeemer and Saint John the Evangelist Churches,

Peace and all good!

On behalf of our Poor Clare Community at Saint Clare Adoration Monastery, I am profoundly grateful. I do not have words to fully express our thankfulness for your kindness and generosity in a time of great need. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, when our former benefactors were no longer able to support us, our community entered a time of uncertainly and hardship. At times, we were not sure that we could meet our most basic needs or continue the upkeep of our monastery. We have passed through a time of quiet struggle and suffering, known only to God.

And then, through you, God answered our prayers.

The generous offering that you gathered is not simply a financial gift to us. For our community, it is a powerful experience of God's providence, care and love. Your compassion has lifted a heavy burden from our shoulders, restored our sense of security and renewed our strength to continue faithfully in our vocation. You have not only supported our material needs; you have strengthened our life of prayer. Because of your generosity, we are able to remain before the Lord in adoration, carrying in our hearts the intentions of the Church and the world, and now, in a special way, remembering you and your parish communities each day.

Please extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to every member of your parish who contributed to this offering. Their sacrifice and love are not forgotten.

In the silence of our cloister, their intentions are placed before the Blessed Sacrament, where we trust that the Lord himself will reward them abundantly.

Be assured, dear Father, that you and your parishes will always have a place in our prayers. May the Lord, who is never outdone in generosity, bless you richly, sustain you in your ministry and grant you His peace.

With Deepest gratitude and prayerful remembrance.

Sister Mary Francesca, PCPA

stjohnsphilly.org