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This year, some entering the Church during Easter hailed from Gen Z. Others were mid-life converts.
Catholic converts wait and ponder, some longer than others. And, this spring, Americans flocked to the Church, including waves of Generation Z converts.
Among them were Anna and Dylan Pooler, 20 and 21, respectively, who were baptized and confirmed at St. Anne’s in Richmond Hill, Georgia, this Easter. Both grew up attending nondenominational churches in Maine. In 2023, soon after marrying and moving to Georgia, where Dylan is stationed in the Army, they attended a Mass in Savannah. Although not Catholic, Anna had gone to a Catholic high school for its small class sizes. It was Dylan’s first Mass.
Anna prayed that God would give her new husband the same experience of the Holy Spirit she’d had. And that day, “I felt God’s embrace around my heart,” Dylan said, admitting he’s not usually emotional. Mass was the missing puzzle piece from the non-Catholic churches he’d attended. Both wanted to join the Church.
Then Dylan was deployed to Germany, and Anna moved back to Maine. God gave them a pause, Dylan said, ensuring they were ready. When they returned to Georgia, they enrolled in Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and found an apartment near their church, where Anna says you can hear the bells calling you.
Continued below.
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Catholic converts wait and ponder, some longer than others. And, this spring, Americans flocked to the Church, including waves of Generation Z converts.
Among them were Anna and Dylan Pooler, 20 and 21, respectively, who were baptized and confirmed at St. Anne’s in Richmond Hill, Georgia, this Easter. Both grew up attending nondenominational churches in Maine. In 2023, soon after marrying and moving to Georgia, where Dylan is stationed in the Army, they attended a Mass in Savannah. Although not Catholic, Anna had gone to a Catholic high school for its small class sizes. It was Dylan’s first Mass.
Anna prayed that God would give her new husband the same experience of the Holy Spirit she’d had. And that day, “I felt God’s embrace around my heart,” Dylan said, admitting he’s not usually emotional. Mass was the missing puzzle piece from the non-Catholic churches he’d attended. Both wanted to join the Church.
Then Dylan was deployed to Germany, and Anna moved back to Maine. God gave them a pause, Dylan said, ensuring they were ready. When they returned to Georgia, they enrolled in Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and found an apartment near their church, where Anna says you can hear the bells calling you.
Continued below.
Worth the Wait: New Catholic Converts Share Their Stories
This year, some entering the Church during Easter hailed from Gen Z. Others were mid-life converts.
