Catholic Converts and the Limits of the Trend

A certain number of college students seem to be converting from Protestantism to Catholicism. Some whispers note that this is relatively frequent at Hillsdale College; others have noticed it as a prominent phenomenon in conservative political circles. But a 2025 Pew Research Study finds that in the country as a whole, Catholicism is losing far more members than it is gaining, and more to the religiously unaffiliated than to Protestants. Whatever the dynamic of conversion of college students to Catholicism, it would seem to be a relatively minor component of modern American religious demographic changes.

Crossing the Tiber is a longstanding phenomenon, particularly for intellectual conservatives of a certain cast of mind. The grounding of ultimate authority, the accumulated weight of Catholic tradition, the elaborations of doctrine and liturgy, the rigor—these attract. Some Protestants and Catholics convert to Orthodox churches for similar reasons. Some Americans, indeed, turn to the Church of England or to Reformed churches from similar motivations. The common denominator is a disenchantment with religious practice and doctrine that substitutes some flavor of Moral Therapeutic Deism for more traditional Christian practice and belief.

More such converts may turn to Catholicism simply because it is a larger presence in America than its rivals. Protestants as a whole may still outnumber Catholics, but they are split into a multitude of denominations, relatively few of which offer a strong challenge to Moral Therapeutic Deism. The Orthodox Churches are still fairly small. Catholicism is itself home to many different forms of practice, and intellectual conservatives may find some of these practices uncongenially woolly. A Catholic Church that promulgates an encyclical on climate change can hardly be deemed the MAGA movement at prayer. Indeed, a large number of college students who convert to Catholicism may be attracted to it precisely because many of its leaders now present it as a champion of environmentalism, social justice, and post-nationalism. Not all religious seekers are traditionalists, and the Catholic Church, like other denominations, has positioned itself to attract the non-traditionalist devout.