Ten Thousand Reasons That Lead to One Truth...

“The difficulty of explaining why I am a Catholic is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason—that Catholicism is true.” —G.K. Chesterton 

For G.K. Chesterton, the bigger-than-life early 20th-century English journalist, author, philosopher, and Catholic convert who influenced literary greats such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Ernest Hemingway, the truth of Catholicism couldn’t be clearer.

And it seems that today, there’s a wave of people coming to the same conclusion.

A few months ago, while searching YouTube for something to listen to during my daily walk around the golf course, I came across a CNN podcast titled “Why Is the Catholic Church So Hot?” — and it instantly caught my attention. Aside from Mets podcasts, I love listening to conversion stories during my walks, and this one was right up my alley.

The episode, from The Assignment with Audie Cornish, aired this summer and featured Christine Emba—a New York Times contributor, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Catholic convert—discussing why the Church is surging in the United States (and actually across the globe!).

Now, with the first American pope, Leo XIV, there’s obviously a buzz around Catholicism. But the trend toward the most ancient Christian Church—founded by Christ Himself—started long before Pope Leo was even a consideration.

Celebrities like Shia LaBeouf, Russell Brand, and Rob Schneider have openly converted and embraced the faith.

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman and Vice President J.D. Vance have spoken publicly about their conversions, as has Tammy Peterson, wife of Jordan Peterson.

Then there are the longtime Catholics who live their faith intentionally—Mark Wahlberg, Jim Caviezel, Jonathan Roumie, Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker, and Boston Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla, who recently announced he’s considering the diaconate.

You start noticing a pattern.

Add to this the “Charlie Kirk effect”—though not Catholic, he’s inspired a groundswell of interest in faith and Christianity—and there seems to be a perfect storm brewing. People are searching for meaning and purpose. People are turning to God. And people are turning to Catholic Christianity.

While I didn’t agree with all the assessments by Cornish and Emba on the CNN podcast, they touched on something real: in these chaotic times, many people are being drawn to the order, structure, and beauty of Catholicism.

I see it every week at my home parish. The pews are packed with young families—far more than five or ten years ago. I see it at our adult catechesis class (OCIA), where I guest lecture. This year, our parish broke a record with 65 candidates enrolled to learn more about Catholicism, to convert, or to receive a missing sacrament.

I also see it at our sister parish next to the University of Miami, where the church is usually standing-room-only. On two recent ocassions, I've even seen Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his family there, along with a small contingent of Secret Service agents.

And this isn’t limited to South Florida. When we travel to visit our children, I see it at Masses in Tallahassee, Tuscaloosa, and Nashville—even at early morning Mass, which I love to attend whenever I’m away. It’s clear something is happening.

So, I decided to look into it further.

Now, sometimes the headlines can be a bit like my son’s eclectic playlist—a mix of genres that don’t seem to coincide or tell a whole story. While Pew Research Center shows a prolonged dip in the percentage of Americans identifying as Catholic and a downturn in Mass attendance, the statistics may be deceiving.

According to data from the U.S. Religion Census, the actual number of practicing Catholics across the country increased between 2010 and 2020, especially among younger generations. How does that work? Well, it seems that among those attending Mass, engagement is growing, while the less engaged or lukewarm are drifting away.

Moreover, the Church is literally moving. Traditional strongholds in the Northeast and Midwest have seen numbers dwindle, while the South and West are booming. States like Florida, Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Arizona are seeing big jumps in their Catholic populations. Hispanic Catholics are a huge part of this shift, but so are cost-of-living trends, job opportunities, and politics that are forcing people to move.

But there’s something even deeper happening.

An Associated Press report called it an “immense shift toward the old ways.” Many young people are being drawn to more traditional Catholic practices—such as the Traditional Latin Mass. Shia LaBeouf and Harrison Butker come to mind. A New York Post article even highlighted a “surge” in young adults converting, with some dioceses reporting increases of 30% to 70%. These converts often speak of the “beautiful and transcendent rituals,” the “ancient history,” and the “reverence” they feel is missing elsewhere.

As Bishop Robert Barron says, “Begin with the beautiful, which leads you to the good, which leads you to the truth.” That’s the journey many seem to be taking.

As for me, it’s not only about the order amidst the chaos that Catholicism offers. It’s not just about the beauty, sacredness, and tradition. It’s about the authority Jesus placed on Peter and His Apostles. The Church He founded and promised that “the gates of hell would never prevail against” her.

It’s about the Eucharist and the Sacraments that Jesus instituted and entrusted to the Apostles to minister to His people—including the power to forgive and retain sins. It’s about the Bible that the first followers wrote, and the Church later compiled and canonized as a binding document in the late 4th century. It’s about the Communion of Saints, the Blessed Mother, and so much more.

But whatever is drawing people to Catholicism—be it the “hot” trend mentioned on the CNN podcast or the ten thousand reasons Chesterton spoke of—ultimately, it must come down to the one thing the British author so poignantly expressed: Truth.

Anything else is temporary.