More than 8,500 people are becoming Catholic this Easter in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, amounting to a roughly 54% increase from the previous year, according to Angelus News.
“Church leaders say there’s no clear answer” to the surge in conversions, the report states. “Some point to a reawakening born from the personal desolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Others credit the spirit created by the three-year National Eucharistic Revival throughout the country. Many find it to be a sign of spiritual hunger caused by a confusing and turbulent world.”
The report spotlighted a number of people entering the Church this Easter. Malain Houmoeung, a catechumen who was raised Buddhist, is among them.
She said faith anchored her during difficult moments and that the Lord met her when she was at her “wits end” in 2023 as she sat with her father, who was in a hospital emergency room. Houmoeung said it was that experience that led her to start reading the Bible.
“Through my trials and tribulations,” Houmoeung said, “things that were happening around me had to fall apart in order for me to let go of control and let go of doing things my way and just trusting God and having faith.”
Houmoeung also said that she attended several Protestant churches, but the faith only “clicked” for her after she participated in a Catholic Mass; according to the report.
Her fiancé is also entering the Church this Easter, and the two plan to marry in July, according to the outlet.
Daniel Hernandez, another catechumen, said his decision to convert was shaped largely by his desire to raise his future children in the Catholic faith, which his wife already practices.
“I want our kids to be able to understand the importance of why we go to Mass,” he told the outlet. “I didn’t want any confusion: ‘Why is Dad not going to Sunday Mass with us?’”
He said that joining OCIA classes was not a hard decision.
“I’m already falling in love with the Catholic Church, so to learn more and to grow in it was a no-brainer for me,” he said. "I kept praying to God and asking him to help me with the journey.”
Hernandez said he is especially looking forward to receiving the sacraments at the Easter Vigil.
“I’m excited for my baptism,” he said. “I’m excited to actually be forgiven for my sins. Yeah, just to officially be Catholic.”