On this year’s Easter Vigil, thousands of people across the U.S were received into the Catholic Church. A whopping 8,598 people became Catholic in Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Atlanta welcomed 3,442 new Catholics on Easter Sunday. In Texas, the Diocese of Dallas received 2,500 Catholics and the Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston, 3000. More than 1000 people were baptized Catholic in at least 14 dioceses, including Phoenix, Washington, Fort Worth, and San Diego.
The number of adults becoming Catholic has been on the decline in recent decades in the United States; however, some American dioceses have reported a significant rise in the number of people entering the Church in recent years. Signalling a positive trend, a historic wave of converts has now entered the Church in the U.S. in 2026.
Interestingly, the U.S. is not the only country to see an increasing number of new adult Catholics. France is also experiencing a “baptism boom”, with the Archdiocese of Paris welcoming 788 converts this Easter, its largest group ever. According to Catholic Review, the Archdiocese of Westminster in England reported a 60% increase in the number of converts from 2025 to 2026. Dioceses in Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands have also reported a surge in people joining the Church in recent years.