At this year’s Easter Vigil, the Archdiocese of Detroit will receive 1,428 catechumens and candidates, the most to join the Church in the archdiocese since 2005.
According to the archdiocese’s website, 583 catechumens are preparing for Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation, and 845 candidates, who have already been baptized, will receive Confirmation.
Alex Schultz, a 22-year-old catechumen, said a Catholic friend sparked her interest in the faith. Schultz had attended Catholic schools, though she was not Catholic herself, and explored other faiths, including Buddhism and Orthodoxy.
She stated that many young people are drawn to the Church’s structure.
“People are looking for how to live life correctly, or how it should be lived, because there’s a lot of issues in this day and age with technology and temptations,” she remarked. “I think people are looking for something more grounded than just doing what you want to do as long as you make you happy.”
High schooler Amara Roux, whose family fell away from the faith after she received her First Communion, will be confirmed at Easter. She echoed Schultz’s sentiment about loneliness.
“I think we’re kind of a lonely generation, in all honesty, just with social media and stuff like that, constantly being bombarded with messages,” Roux said. “But it’s like what the archbishop said in his homily: 'In the Catholic Church you will always find love,' and I think that’s probably what’s drawing people to the Church, that it’s so filled with love.”
According to the article, the numbers in Detroit reflect a larger national trend.
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Kathy Fech, sacred worship coordinator in the Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship, named several factors that influenced the rising number of conversions, including increased religious interest after the COVID-19 pandemic and the work of the National Eucharistic Revival and apostolates, such as Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) and St. Paul Street Evangelization.
Within the archdiocese, parishes have received increased encouragement to participate in the Rite of Election, where candidates and catechumens sign their name in a book to indicate their intention to enter the Church. Four parishes participated in this year’s liturgy.
Archbishop Edward Weisenburger presided over the Feb. 22 Rite of Election, and in his homily, he reminded the faithful that Christ Himself called them and chose them.
“Not one of us is here today accidentally or incidentally,” the archbishop added. “From all eternity, it really was the Father’s will that each of us would hear His call that flows from the voice of Jesus, His son, and only those having heard that call respond by embracing the Son in faith and sacrament.”
He added at the end of his homily: ““From this day forward, be assured of your call. From all eternity, you were desired. At this moment in time, you are chosen. And for all eternity, you will be loved.”