December 11, 2025

My dear Kirkland Catholics,  

What is happening in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches post-COVID? I had noticed both in my final year in my previous assignment, and in my first two rounds of OCIA here in our parish family, that the OCIA classes are not only notably bigger that years past, but also significantly younger and more male-heavy. I have always been involved in OCIA since I was a seminarian, so I have a good deal of experience and this is definitely new and definitely a trend. It used to be that the majority of the adult males coming into the Church were connected to the school and had a wife who was a practicing lifelong Catholic; and majority of the females coming into the Church were in their 50s and older and coming from mainline Protestant denominations. That is not the case any longer and - from what I can tell - is an across the country shift.  

A lot of teenage and young adult males are seeking initiation into the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church coming from either unchurched or evangelical backgrounds (including my second cousin who is a freshman at George Fox). Articles have been written about this by the New York Times for example. Barbara Heil who was here for the Mission mentioned that Texas A&M have an awesome Newman Center that averages about 100 converts to Catholicism per year; but have over 400 college students in their program this year preparing for Baptism or Confirmation and Eucharist at Easter! (I double checked, Barbara is right).  

One driving factor must have to do with the fact that mainline Protestant ecclesial communities have largely jettisoned Biblical morality (see this year’s schism between the Church of England and the larger body of conservative Anglican churches); whereas many evangelical churches have aligned themselves with the Religious Right and have become overly political while at the same time continuing the trend of often not being intellectually rigorous or consistent. Thus both strains are losing members and are maybe less attractive to seekers who desire something rigorous, consistent and traditional. At the same time, one suspects that our culture’s darkness and moral relativism is so bad now that young men and other seekers are desiring beauty, tradition and moral certitude.   

Whatever factors are in play, it is essentially an act of God and a “sign of the time” we should pay attention to. It may be the beginning of a renewal in the family with men taking a leading or at least equal role in passing the faith to their children; but however God is drawing younger converts into the Church should be an encouragement to us. Finally, as Pope Leo emphasized on his visit to Turkey, Catholics and Orthodox must be working towards unity; this move of the Holy Spirit driving young people in greater numbers than before into both Communions should be a new impetus to cooperate in this act of God.  

With love in Christ, 
Fr. Brad