The future in the faith: new Catholic converts tell their stories

At the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of St. Mary on Feb. 22, 156 prospective Catholics, in the presence of their sponsors and their families, took one step closer to entering the Catholic Church. Their numbers included 37 catechumens, who have not been baptized, and 119 candidates, who have been baptized but have not received the sacraments of Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.

Among those preparing to enter the Church is Kay McGirr, a 76-year-old parishioner of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

“I am so blessed to have found the Catholic Church, or maybe she found me!” McGirr told New Earth. She is from Moorhead, Minn. but has lived in American Samoa and spent 33 years in Hawaii.

“I believe the Holy Spirit has prompted me to become a Catholic. My sponsor has helped encourage me,” she said, also crediting the work of Mary Hanbury, the Fargo diocese’s Director of Catechesis.

“I try to read as much as I can about anything Catholic,” McGirr added. She praised the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ emails with daily Bible readings, a podcast and video reflection. She also uses the Hallow app.

Her prayer life includes the daily rosary and the chanted night prayers from the Source & Summit liturgical resource.

McGirr is far from alone.

In the previous five years, 777 people have entered the Church in the Fargo diocese, according to figures from the diocese’s Office of Catholic Education and Formation.
In 2025 there were 171 people who entered the Church, including 38 adults who were baptized. The year 2024 was a recent peak, as 210 people entered the Church, including 92 adult baptisms. In 2023, some 142 people entered the Church, compared to 137 in 2022 and 117 in 2021.

Elsewhere in North Dakota and the Midwest, others are preparing to become Catholic. The Bismarck diocese told New Earth it did not have current numbers for people entering the Church at Easter 2026. However, last year in the diocese, 141 people entered the Church: 36 children and 105 adults.

The Crookston diocese told New Earth it currently has 22 catechumens and 32 candidates for a total of 54 preparing to enter the Church. Last year, there were 47 total, 12 catechumens and another 32 candidates. While 2024 numbers were not immediately available the diocese said that in 2023 there were 37 people who entered the Church at Easter, while in 2022 there were only 22.

In the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, 1,736 people will enter the Church at Easter: 605 catechumens and 1,131 candidates, archdiocesan officials told New Earth. This figure is hundreds more people than last year, when the combined total was 1,126.
The archdiocese is one of the largest in U.S. Catholicism, with over 920,000 of its 3.5 million people identifying as Catholic, according to the 2024 Annuario Pontifico, the Holy See’s annual directory. By contrast, the Fargo diocese has about 74,000 Catholics in a population of 427,000.

Behind every number is a story.

MacKenzie Walter of Streeter is a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church in Medina. She is going through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA), the process to join the Church.
“I was not raised a part of any church and felt the absence of it,” she told New Earth. “After having my children, it became important to me that they be spiritually grounded. I felt if my husband and I didn’t teach them about matters of faith they would be raised by ‘the world’.”
“It started as a journey to just explore faith by visiting local churches. After attending a few Catholic services, I felt drawn to know more,” Walter said. “I enrolled in OCIA classes, my children started attending religion, and we continued to come to Mass regularly.”

“During my time learning and prayerfully debunking previous beliefs, I found that what I was learning in OCIA made more sense than my former Protestant beliefs,” she said. “My family feels welcome here and we are so thankful for our parish community. They have all played a part and helped on my (and my children's) journey! I’m eager to become Catholic and be in full communion. I know I’ll continue learning along the way.” 

One by one, the numbers of new Catholics add up.

In June 2025, the Pew Research Center reported that about 1.5 percent of all U.S. adults are Catholic converts. They make up about 8 percent of U.S. Catholics, said the Pew report titled “47% of U.S. Adults Have a Personal or Family Connection to Catholicism.”

Overall, 20 percent of Americans say they are Catholic when asked about their present religion. Pew found a three-way split among another 27 percent of Americans. Nine percent say they are “cultural Catholics” aside from religion, citing ethnic, cultural or family background. Another nine percent say they were raised Catholic but do not identify as Catholic in a religious or cultural sense. Still another nine percent say they have a Catholic parent, spouse or relationship partner or say that they ever attend Mass.

Family background played a role in the journey of Joshua Smith, age 31, who now lives in Moorhead, Minn. He is a parishioner at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo preparing to enter the Church.

“My father was raised Catholic, so we had a respect for the Mass,” Smith told New Earth. “After I finished my undergrad, I took a long hard look at different denominations and felt more drawn to the Catholic Church. I spent two years looking into it, and then a surprise cancer diagnosis made it more urgent.”

“I am more at peace with the decision to become Catholic than I thought I would be,” Smith said. “During my time in OCIA, I found what felt to me to be a place where my spirit had a home and (could) come to rest. There is also building excitement for what God has planned in the years ahead.”

He is preparing by “reading a lot” and volunteering in his parish. He credited Father Frank Buck of the Orlando diocese, calling him “a wonderful priest” who first prompted him to think about entering the Church. He also thanked his mentor Dr. Paul Holman who “allowed me to explain and talk about my excitement about coming into the Church.”

Smith expressed gratitude for many other Catholic clergy, volunteers and others who had helped him, especially his mother Rhonda Duvall and Bishop John T. Folda for “their kindness and guidance.”

“I have enjoyed getting to know many wonderful people throughout the parish and the diocese this past year, and I look forward to the future in the faith,” he said.