The Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, located adjacent to Ohio State University (OSU) campus, is expected to have another record high number of students and individuals enter the Catholic Church at Easter this year.
Between 40 and 50 individuals are predicted to be baptized or enter full communion with the Church at the Newman Center near Ohio’s largest university. The nearly 50 individuals preparing for entry into the Church are currently in the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) program.
The class is roughly split between candidates, those previously baptized in other Christian traditions and now seeking full communion with the Catholic Church, and catechumens, those who have not been baptized and are preparing to receive all three sacraments of initiation: baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. The cohort also includes some baptized Catholics who will receive final sacraments – the Eucharist and Confirmation.
Katy Bryant of Dayton is a catechumen preparing to be baptized into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass at the Newman Center. She came one step closer to entering the Church during the Rite of Election Mass celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes on March 9.
During the Rite of Election, the Church formally designates catechumens in the diocese as part of the “elect,” or those chosen by God and His Church to be baptized in the celebration of the sacraments of initiation at Easter. A “Call to Continuing Conversion” is traditionally celebrated for candidates.
“It is God who has called you,” Bishop Fernandes explained in his homily. “It is also the Church who call(s) you, manifesting your ‘election’ by God in and through the Church, not only through the bishop, but also through your sponsors who testify on your behalf. God calls you to belong to Him through baptism; and we, the Church, the family of God, call you to belong to our family.”
Bryant, who had connections to OSU’s Newman Center and opted to enter the Church there, has been making the commute from Dayton to Columbus each weekend for Sunday OCIA classes.
The journey through OCIA has been a positive experience for her. Bryant said she appreciates the classes, finding them informative and interesting. She also established several relationships with individuals at the Newman Center.
“I’m honestly surprised about how kind everyone has been, and even people in my personal life,” she noted. “I’m very blessed that I don’t really have anyone that is telling me I shouldn’t do this, or really giving me that much grief for it, because I know that’s the case for a lot of people.”
Bryant grew up attending a Baptist church but was never baptized. By the time she was around 8 years old, her family reduced attending services to a couple times a year. Eventually, Bryant said, she stopped attending church services altogether.
In January 2024, she attended her first Catholic Mass. The experience could be described as love at first sight.
Bryant’s love for the Catholic Mass led to regular Sunday Mass attendance and a deep dive in research on the Church and its history. She said she felt compelled to start researching. She was also inspired by the witness of her boyfriend, a practicing Catholic.
Bryant appreciated learning about the Church’s sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and knowing that the sacraments were instituted by Christ. She said she felt that it was “the truth.”
“I started watching, like, YouTube videos from priests, and I almost got a little bit into the online stuff, like reading stuff on Reddit and people’s kind of testimonies and things, and then I bought the ‘Catechism (of the Catholic Church).’ I started reading that,” she said. “It was just like, the more things I learned, it just made sense.”
Bryant especially appreciated Church tradition. She said she loves following tradition, which the Catholic Church has continued for thousands of years since its founding.
“If I were to go back to my old (Baptist) church now, it would feel watered down,” she admitted. “Almost like, it wouldn’t feel like I was doing enough.”
Bryant’s love for Church tradition led to an appreciation for traditional Catholic churches.
“I especially appreciate the old parishes that were built in like the 1800s,” she said. “They’ve got beautiful stained glass, and they have the older sounding music with organs, and I just loved that.”
Her conversion to Catholicism also inspired some of her family members.
Bryant said she took her nieces to Mass with her, and they have since gained an interest in learning more. She said they also acquired Bibles that they now read.
In his homily, Bishop Fernandes noted that sharing the faith is a key part of a person’s conversion.
“To be called and chosen is also to be sent,” he told the catechumens gathered for the Rite of Election. “You will eventually be sent into the world to make new disciples, and the preparation for that mission begins today with an intense commitment to take Lent seriously as the celebration of the Paschal Mystery approaches.”
Will Kuehnle, who is teaching OCIA at the Newman Center this year, described students in the “Introduction to Catholicism” class as “bold and curious.” He said many linger for an hour or more after class to continue discussing the evening’s lesson.
“They’ve also really impressed me each session with their ability to ‘see around the corner,’ which is exactly the kind of habit I believe catechesis should inspire,” Kuehnle said. “We have a good challenge at Buckeye Catholic in OCIA, which is that we’re leading forward while the catechumen and candidates are often already running ahead.”
Kuehnle attributed the large number of students preparing to enter the Church again this year primarily to God’s grace.
He also recognized Buckeye Catholic’s leadership. He noted that it takes considerable effort to bring catechumens, candidates and sponsors together. Student leaders must first be empowered by Buckeye Catholic, he explained.
It appears many students are empowered and eager to hand on the Catholic faith to their peers.
“I see young people who are more desirous than ever for something real,” Kuehnle said of the catechumens and candidates. “As Pope Francis likes to say, ‘reality is greater than ideas,’ and I see students coming to ‘Introduction to Catholicism’ (class) because mere ideas floating around in the culture, whether they be social ideas or spiritual ideas or political ideas, have left them wanting reality.
“They see in the Catholic faith an occasion to enter a real community, experience God through real and physical sacraments, and to have a real encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”