More Washington-area residents are converting to Catholicism, as the church prepares to bring them into the faith this Easter weekend.
The trend is being seen nationwide, as Catholic parishes across the U.S. will welcome as many as 150,000 new and returning members during Easter liturgies.
The Archdiocese of Washington will see its highest number of confirmations in the past six years, said Susan Gibbs, director of communications. This year, 1,192 people will be confirmed in the archdiocese, which covers the District and the Maryland suburbs, up from 1,114 in 2008.
Gibbs said many factors were contributing to the increase.
“We’re in a culture now where people are just not brought up in religion, so as adults, they’re making that decision,” Gibbs said.
She also cited marriage to a Catholic and an increase in immigrants from traditionally Catholic locations, such as South America and West Africa.
More than 1,100 new members will come into parishes in 21 counties in the greater Northern Virginia area, a slight increase from previous years, said Joelle Santolla, director of communications for the Arlington Diocese.
“I think people are looking for certainty and stability, and Christ offers that to all of us,” Santolla said.
The Catholic Church has been rocked over the last decade by the priest sex abuse scandal, in which dozens of priests were accused of abusing children in their parishes. Pope Benedict XVI, in his visit to Washington a year ago, said he was “deeply ashamed” of the scandal and pledged that pedophiles would not be Catholic priests.
The church put in extra effort this year to encourage lapsed Catholics to return to the faith.
The Archdiocese of Washington sent 50,000 invitations to area residents. Gibbs said the results of the effort won’t be seen until next Easter.
Twenty-two people will join St. Matthew’s Cathedral in the District this weekend, said Jeannine Marino, coordinator of adult faith formation — a large increase from last year, when fewer than 10 joined.
Eighteen members of the group are young adults in their 20s and 30s, which Marino said was significant.
“I would say that probably if you take the median age of the group, since we have a lot of young adults in the parish … that a lot of them are looking for something else,” she said. “Something more than what secular society can provide, a sense of hope that they aren’t finding in the world right now.”
