Easter Conversion ‘Boom’?

Some U.S. dioceses are reporting that 2014 will be an unusually fruitful year, in terms of the number of people welcomed into the Church.

By Charlotte Hays

National Catholic Register

WASHINGTON — Speaking of the prospect of becoming a Catholic at this year’s Easter vigil, Sheila Bidzinski, a 36-year-old mother of two little boys, excitedly admits, “I hope I won’t pass out, but I have told my husband he has to get behind me in case he has to catch me.”

When Bidzinski, who has been studying the Catholic faith with a group at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Derwood, Md., comes into the Church, she will be participating in what one commentator has dubbed “a boom.”

The Archdiocese of Washington, where Bidzinski’s parish is located, will welcome the largest number of candidates and catechumens ever recorded for the archdiocese this Easter. The archdiocese will baptize or confirm 1,311 adults, children and teenagers this Easter.

“What we have seen for the past three years is a steady, incremental increase [in the number of people coming into the Church at Easter],” said Sara Blauvelt, director for catechesis of the Archdiocese of Washington. Blauvelt said that she finds it “particularly exciting” that there has been “a significant increase in the number of catechumens.”

In the Diocese of Cleveland, the number of catechumens and candidates is 511. That's 100 more than a year ago, with many of those coming into the Church crediting Pope Francis with influencing their decision, diocesan officials report.

“Pope Francis’ history of simple living, combined with his rejection of some of the more worldly trappings of the papacy, has, for many, made conforming oneself to Christ and living as a Catholic relevant to the unchurched; indeed, to cradle-Catholics as well,” said Jeanne Marie Miles, the director of the Cleveland Diocese’s Office of Worship. “Like his namesake, Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis is leading by example, and many are following.”

Father Rob Walsh, chaplain of the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland in the Washington Archdiocese, is excited that 20 students are coming into the Church at the Easter vigil.

What’s the secret? Father Walsh thinks it’s quite simple: evangelization. It is essential to invite people to come into the Church.

“I know there is a lot of talk about Pope Francis, and I am a big fan of the Holy Father,” said Father Walsh, “but I’m not sure kids are latching onto that. But we do push evangelization here. I tell the kids, ‘Eat all the chocolate you want during Lent. What I want you to do is go to Mass. Go to confession. If it’s been six months, it’s time to go to confession.” It is important, said Father Walsh, for young people on campus to encounter people who are practicing their faith.

“If I thought it something to joke about,” said Robert Royal of the Faith and Reason Institute, “I might argue that [all these converts] are fleeing the wrath to come. But there does seem to be some sense abroad that the Church is a real haven from much that is cresting just now. I hear it from American evangelicals. There’s the case of that pastor and his wife — in Sweden, of all places — who gave up his position at a megachurch with 3,000 souls to become a Catholic. And, of course, Francis is a kind of global magnet, though in ways difficult to pin down. In any event, it encourages us all to stay at the work.”

Extracted from NCRegister.com of March 31, 2014

Evangelizing Challenge This Week

Read Charlotte Hays’ complete story of the "Easter Conversion ‘Boom"