According to several recent reports, including one from the National Catholic Register, we’ve seen a huge surge in Catholic conversions — especially among younger generations. A recent New York Post article highlighted the “growing number of young people turning to the Catholic Church from other denominations, religions and even no faith at all.”
What’s behind this sudden flocking to Catholicism?
Glenn Beck says that people are drawn to Catholic rituals because they offer order and meaning in this era of progressive chaos.
He reflects on Michelle Obama’s infamous 2008 speech, during which she claimed that “we are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history.”
A decade and a half later, and it’s clear that uprooting tradition results in division, displacement, and disorder.
Tradition, Glenn explains, is “deeply human” and serves to “mark moments that matter in our lives” and “helps organize things in our mind.”
Catholicism, which is predicated on tradition, can restore the emptiness our current culture has adopted.
“Rituals in Catholicism — the Eucharist or the confession — elevate this instinct, this need to the sacred, so it’s not just a routine; it is a bridge to meaning,” says Glenn. “That matters because when you have meaning and there’s a storm in your life, it gives structure so it doesn’t feel like the storm is just going to wipe you out entirely.”
Modern worship doesn’t seem to offer the same stability as traditional worship. The Post article notes that “Gen Z crave clarity and certainty” and are therefore “rejecting lax alternatives of modern worship.”
“Why? Because modern worship tells you you can believe anything; there are no real rules,” says Glenn.
The problem is, that kind of progressive doctrine lacks substance, which is what the human soul is designed to thirst for. Ritual and tradition can offer a solution because they “build communities — like a congregation singing together in unison or a neighborhood block party,” says Glenn.
“We now live in a world of screen and rush,” he explains. But rituals and traditions “will slow you down, make you present in the moment.”
“They’re not about rules; they’re all about meaning if you do it right. This isn’t about recognizing one faith over another. This is about recognizing what rituals do for us.”
To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the clip above.
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