Affordable hotspot popular with Americans fleeing liberal New York and Los Angeles experiences huge Catholicism boom

Daily Mail ^ | July 9, 2026 | Anna Wright

[Angelino97]

The Phoenix location is now the second-largest Catholic diocese in the country, trailing only the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, according to the 2025 Official Catholic Directory.

'Something holy is taking place, something historical, something that goes way back, and they're intrigued by that,' said Joyce Coronel, the Diocese of Phoenix manager told the outlet.

She called the current wave of interest in the church 'enormous.' Data obtained by the outlet showed the Diocese had 512 adult baptisms in 2025, up 46.7 percent from 2022, 84.8 percent from 2023, and 24 percent from 2024.

'Adult baptisms have increased significantly over the past three years, and we anticipate this number will also be higher as the solid data from 2026 comes in,' Brett Meister, the diocese's communications director, said.

The Diocese also saw a rise in adult confirmations and first communions, with 1,404 confirmations and 1,118 first communions in 2025, compared with 507 confirmations and 621 first communions in 2022.

Coronel explained that many younger converts are drawn to the Church by a desire for connection and truth.

'"I don't wanna just go to a concert or a pep talk. Like, I want something holy,"; Coronel reported a young convert in his 20s told her.

Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith , the follow-up to his 2016 best-seller Hillbilly Elegy, which turned him into a household name and put him on the political map

A national survey by the Archdiocese of Chicago found that many converts were drawn to Catholicism by a search for 'personal hunger.'

Others cited the Church’s traditions, including its liturgy and history. The survey, conducted from this past February to May, found that 69 percent of respondents were Gen Z or millennials.

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KEYWORDS: annawright; arizona; brettmeister; california; chicago; illinois; joycecoronel; losangeles; newyork; phoenix

[HYPOCRACY]

Maybe the Pope will convert.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Give them rainbow flags until they walk away. That’ll stop this nonsense.

[Dr. Sivana]

I go to St Edwards in Phoenix. Here we have the traditional Layin Mass and the FSSP. We are over capacity and we are half-way to paying for a new church building. Usual delays, architects, diocese, zoning. I hope we can raise some more soon to get the project done. Cost has already gone up 20% over original plans.

[Orosius]

I’m fortunate to be in a parish with a bishop who’s faithful to the Church’s teachings and traditions and doesn’t brook any nonsense about rainbow flags and DEI BS. Our priests are all solid as well. Sunday Mass is packed with young people, many married with large and growing families. Last Easter Vigil the cathedral was SRO and a record number of adult catechumens were welcomed into the fold. Many of us have problems with the current Pope and Vatican hierarchy, but out here in the wilds of America the eternal Catholic Church is thriving.

[Old Yeller]

Satan knows his time is short, so he is pulling out all the stops on his deceptive ways with nan-made religions.

[Dr. Sivana]

Affordable hotspot popular with Americans fleeing liberal New York and Los Angeles experiences huge Catholicism boom

I live in Greater Phoenix. It WAS affordable pre-Covid. The flight described, especially from California, and the number of foreign incomer legal and illegal, put a pinch on housing prices. When we were house shopping, we would always be aced out by a Californian who didn't rely on a bank appraisal because he had ready cash from the sale of the California home. Add to that the rental houses that pack ten at a time, and you have upward pressure on prices.

Taxes are manageable, school choice works really well, but gasoline is expensive and likely to get worse as we rely largely on California refineries.

[con-surf-ative]

Hopefully this influx of conservatives will diminish the election corruption in Maricopa County and the State of Arizona in general. It seems the last few election cycles have been marred by “unexpected” results in the Phoenix area.

[Prince of Space]

I’m in Maricopa and Canadian investors were coming here in droves after the housing bust in 2008. The house next door to us was sold by the Canadian who lived there to another Canadian who is now renting it out as an AirB&B. It’s unoccupied 95% of the yr.

[Dr. Sivana]

The old guard McCainiacs are the problem. The uniparty assault on Justin Heap (County Recorder) is evidence of that. I just early voted in the primary elections. I hope we can continue to clear out more of the problem people, and especially the evil Hobbs as gov.

[Wuli]

“Hotspot” is definitely what Phoenix is.