(LifeSiteNews) — Adult conversions to Catholicism are spiking on college campuses across the United States, according to data from the prayer app Hallow.
Hallow reported that it reviewed data from almost 60 colleges and universities on participation in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. It found that on average, participation “more than doubled (+115% growth) from the 2024-25 school year to 2025-26.” Leading the trend were Texas A&M University, Arizona State University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Oklahoma.
Other forms of worship participation also saw increases from mass attendance and confession to retreats and Eucharistic adoration.
“Students keep telling us the same thing in different words: They’re hungry. They want to learn and grow,” said Hallow’s Rebekah Smith, who relayed that campus ministers report dramatic surges in ministry meeting attendances. “It is an honor to come alongside partners across the country as students look to go deeper.”
“When you consider baptisms alone, the number is more remarkable,” reported Fr. Bart Hutcherson, pastor of the Catholic Community at Stanford University. “The average (number) of adult baptisms for 30 years is 4/year. I baptized 16 this Easter and they were almost all Stanford students!”
Father Gabriel Mosher at the University of Utah’s St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Newman Center credited the trend to the work of the Holy Spirit. “Christ infuses faith in people,” he said. “We just have to be there to catch them.”
The new data offers a hopeful counterpoint to recent religious trends.
Last November, Gallup released the results of a survey finding that 49 percent of Americans call religion an important part of their daily life, down 17 points from 66 percent in 2015. Moreover, that is a larger drop than all but 14 of the world’s 160-plus nations have allegedly registered since 2007. The month before, Axios reported that some 15,000 churches were projected to close by the end of 2025, noting a Pew survey that found a record number of Americans (29 percent) identifying as religiously unaffiliated.
Polling on contemporary issues shows mixed results on the public’s adoption of Christian moral values. Over the past decade, Gallup, Pew, and Marist have all found attitudes on abortion trending in an overall more “pro-choice” direction. Sixty-eight percent of Americans support recognizing same-sex “marriage,” according to Gallup. YouGov finds support for gay marriage considerably lower at 54 percent but still a comfortable majority.
On the other hand, polls also consistently show the transgender agenda remains a bridge too far, as do the latest extremes of the abortion lobby. Earlier this month, a Zogby poll commissioned by Concerned Women for America found 67.6 percent “definitely or probably” favor ending the mail-order abortion regime by restoring the requirement for in-person doctor’s visits before dispensing abortion pills; 63.9 percent oppose gender “transition” chemicals or surgeries for minors; and 69.3 percent consider it “very or somewhat” important to their vote that a candidate keep males out of female lockers and athletic programs.