Lent 2026
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In 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available), there were a total of 619,775 people who entered the Catholic Church in the United States in the country's 178 Latin-rite dioceses, according to the 2024 edition of The Official Catholic Directory.
While the vast majority — 480,905 — of those new Catholics were infant baptisms, there were still nearly 150,000 others who entered the Church either as a non-infant minor, an adult, or who were received into full communion. (Those people who have already been validly baptized as a Christian do not receive baptism again, but will receive the Eucharist and, depending on their age, Confirmation.)
These people were not distributed evenly across the United States.
Here's a look at the top five dioceses who received the most non-infant baptism conversions in 2023:
By raw numbers
- Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston: In 2023, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston recorded 9,489 new non-infant Catholics. This includes 7,512 minor baptisms (the most in the country), 1,346 adult baptisms, and 631 receptions into full communion.
- Diocese of San Bernardino, California: In 2023, the Diocese of San Bernardino recorded 7,095 new non-infant Catholics. This figure includes 4,819 minor baptisms, 438 adult baptisms, and 1,838 receptions into full communion.
- Archdiocese of Los Angeles: In 2023, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recorded 5,249 new non-infant Catholics. This includes 2,223 minor baptisms, 1,117 adult baptisms, and 1,909 receptions into full communion.
- Diocese of Phoenix: In 2023, the Diocese of Phoenix recorded 4,427 new non-infant Catholics, including 3,379 receptions into full communion — the most in the country. An additional 771 minors and 277 adults were baptized in the Diocese of Phoenix that year.
- Archdiocese of Boston: In 2023, the Archdiocese of Boston recorded 3,665 new non-infant Catholics. The majority of these were the 2,668 minor baptisms. There were an additional 715 adult baptisms and 282 receptions into full communion.
While every new Catholic and every baptism is cause for celebration, raw numbers are not the end-all-be-all of statistics. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for instance, has a higher number of Catholics than some entire U.S. states have in total population.
So let's dig a little deeper.
By comparison to the total Catholic population
In 2023, the median diocese in the United States had one non-infant reception into the Church for every 413 Catholics living within the diocese's territory, said calculations from The Official Catholic Directory published by Catholic World Report.
This median diocese, per those calculations, was the Diocese of Charlotte, which ranked 88th of the Latin Rite dioceses in the United States for this metric.
But in North Carolina's other diocese, the Diocese of Raleigh, the data is much different.
Here are the top five dioceses for new, non-infant Catholics, relative to the total population.
- Diocese of Raleigh: In 2023, the Diocese of Raleigh led the nation with one non-infant reception into the Catholic Church for every 71 Catholics living in the diocese.
- Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky: Not far behind, the Diocese of Lexington recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 84 Catholics in 2023.
- Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph: The Missouri portion of Kansas City recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 99 Catholics in 2023.
- Diocese of Knoxville: Continuing the south of the Mason-Dixon line theme, the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 108 Catholics in the diocese in 2023.
- Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma: The Diocese of Tulsa came in fifth nationally with one new non-infant Catholic for every 134 Catholics living in Oklahoma's eastern diocese.
Were any of these figures surprising?
