LOS ANGELES (LifeSiteNews) — Thousands of candidates in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles entered the Catholic Church this Easter, the highest number of converts the archdiocese has seen in the past decade.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest diocese in the United States, announced that it welcomed a whopping 5,581 candidates, primarily adults, into the Church during this year’s Easter Vigil. The number of candidates who entered the Church in the archdiocese was the highest in 10 years.
The Archdiocese’s Office for Divine Worship announced that, of the over 5,500 candidates, 2,801 had previously been baptized but had not received the other sacraments of initiation, an increase of 84% from 2024. While the other 2,786 were catechumens who had not previously received any sacraments, representing a 34% increase from the previous year.
Father Juan Ochoa, the director of the archdiocesan Office for Divine Worship, pointed LifeSiteNews to several reasons why so many people in his archdiocese may have turned to Catholicism. One reason the priest emphasized was living through COVID may have led to more reflection on eternity.
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“The (COVID) pandemic may have provided an opportunity to people to reflect on what truly matters in life. There is a recognition that there is more to life than the here and now,” the priest said. “There is so much confusion in the world that some people are looking for truth, clarity, and guidance.”
Over 2000 people were received into the Catholic Church at this year’s Easter vigil in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the United States.
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Ochoa further stressed that those who are curious about the Catholic faith now have access to numerous digital evangelization resources.
“St. Paul wrote letters to the early church in order to communicate the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. Writing letters was the technology of his time. Pope Benedict XVI called the church to evangelize the digital continent, and to some extent this has taken place,” Ochoa said. “We can see this in the great evangelization work being done by Fr. Mike Schmitz, Word on Fire, the Augustine Institute, etc. The use of social media has helped people to answer some intellectual questions they may have about the Catholic faith. People who are curious about Catholicism may find some answers via YouTube (or) podcasts.”
“(In) the end … this high number of people becoming Catholics speaks about God. God continues to call people to himself,” Ochoa added.
The dramatic surge of converts in the LA Archdiocese follows a worldwide phenomenon. This Easter saw thousands of adults in the UK enter the Church, and over 10,000 catechumens entered the Church in France.
READ: Thousands of adults joining Catholic Church in UK this Easter, especially young men
