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Master Don Juan
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NEW YORK—For years, churches have worried about empty pews. At St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, the problem is flipped: There isn’t enough room.
A recent 6 p.m. Sunday Mass felt like a sold-out event. Every inch of pew space was filled, mostly with young adults. Latecomers squeezed into makeshift rows of plastic folding chairs or stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the foyer, peering through glass doors. Others squatted on balcony steps or leaned against walls for the roughly 90-minute service. When Eucharistic ministers moved through aisles to distribute Communion, they had to tiptoe around knees and handbags.
An hour earlier, many of these same worshipers had been eating pizza.
For the past months, two 20-somethings, Anthony Gross and Kate De Petro, have hosted “Pizza to Pews,” a pre-Mass meetup at The Pizza Box nearby. More than 100 young adults showed up the first week; by the third, it was 200. Some drive in from Long Island; others take the train from Boston. Then, like a field trip, the group walks to church together.
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“Nobody wants to go to Mass alone,” said Gross, 22, who moved to New York from Wisconsin last summer and found St. Joe’s, as it is known, after asking ChatGPT where to find a young Catholic community. “Better than going to a bar and spending $400.”
Anthony Gross and Kate De Petro (seated on bench), the hosts of 'Pizza to Pews', a meetup group that has drawn young church attendees from as far away as Boston to The Pizza Box in Greenwich Village before Mass.
Gross is part of a measurable shift. Gen Z Christians attend church more often than millennials, Gen X and baby boomers, according to the Barna Group, a firm that studies U.S. faith trends. In 2025, the typical Gen Z churchgoer attended nearly two weekends a month, the highest level since the firm began tracking, and up from around one weekend a month in 2020.
Young men in particular are more interested in faith. A Gallup poll released in April found that in 2025, 42% of young men said religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2023, and overtaking young women.
Worshipers and churches give a variety of reasons for the rise, from the social to the spiritual: Many young people began searching for community after the pandemic, while some parishes saw a surge after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, part of a wave of high-profile incidents of political violence nationwide.
Geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainties and a craving for connection are also leading some Gen Zers to turn to faith communities for comfort and tradition. Some young women veil during Mass; others are picking up the rosary, an older form of prayer that they say they are encountering for the first time as adults. Gross and De Petro say churches across the country have reached out about speaking to their parishes to inspire more young people to attend.
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Nearby, rival parish St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral has also seen a jump in young attendees. They linger on the steps after services to swap numbers and make coffee or dinner plans.
“You’re always meeting new people, but you’re lonely,” said Isabella Orlando, 23, who moved to New York City two years ago and works as a nutrition consultant. She recently started hosting what she calls a “Holy Girl Walk”—a Catholic play on the “hot girl walk” trend—where young women pray the rosary in Central Park. Her first event drew about 50 women, and the second has more than 150 sign-ups after a video went viral. Some passersby heard the group praying and simply joined in.
“This is about meeting people rooted in the same values as you,” Orlando said.
Isabella Orlando has been leading 'Holy Girl Walk,' a meetup in Central Park where young women pray the rosary.
Taylor Donoghue, 25, grew up outside Philadelphia in a household that was, as she put it, “Christian, but didn’t really go to church.” She skipped services through four years of college. Then she moved to New York and started attending a nondenominational parish near Times Square—Fount Church—with friends.
“I’ve grown so much in my faith,” she said. “I don’t know if I didn’t move to New York City if I would’ve gotten such a calling.” Now Sunday is a ritual: dress up, meet friends at the 10 a.m. or noon service, sometimes get brunch after. “My wholesome Sundays,” she calls them, posting videos of her church outfits and routine to nearly a half-million TikTok followers.
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In New York, a city full of options, even churchgoing has become something of a rotation. “I feel like I’m cheating on Epiphany,” joked one young woman who came to “Pizza to Pews” with her sister, referring to the Church of the Epiphany, another parish nearby.
The resurgence is spilling into dating. Catholic matchmaking platform SacredSpark launched six months ago and says New York has become one of its fastest-growing hubs.
The clergy isn’t blind to the romantic energy among congregants. During a recent homily, a priest went there. “There is only one reason one goes to Mass,” he told the crowd. “The love of God.” He paused. “But I hear there’s another reason, too.” Smiles spread across the pews. “There is great excitement about falling in love with a pretty girl.”
Conversions are rising, particularly across metro centers, and universities. This Easter, nearly 90 people took the Holy Communion to formally join the Catholic Church at St. Joe’s, more than double last year. About 70 entered via Old St. Pat’s, also roughly double.
St. Joe’s conversion class this year has ballooned to roughly three to four times its usual size. Some newcomers have “never opened a Bible, and know absolutely nothing,” said Rev. Boniface Endorf, a priest at St. Joe’s. The post-Mass young adult discussion group, once a gathering of about 25, now draws upward of 200. Church leaders are considering adding Mass times and an additional spring conversion class, something traditionally reserved for fall.
In turn, young parishioners volunteer, help with logistics, redesign things. A Broadway lighting designer in the congregation recently overhauled the church’s lights. Others run a Friday night homeless outreach.
Endorf credits more than loneliness for filling pews. “People are looking for more than career and consumption,” he said. “What does it mean to grow up? They’re looking for guidance.”
