Archbishop Anthony Fisher of the Archdiocese of Sydney has spoken about how a revival of the Catholic Faith is spreading across Australia and beyond.
The Archdiocese of Sydney welcomed a record 384 catechumens and candidates during this year's Easter period, marking a 30 per cent increase from the previous year. The archdiocese has also ordained a bishop, along with two deacons and a priest in the space of one month. It all comes against a backdrop in which attendance at Catholic schools is also growing in the archdiocese.
Following the record number of conversions this past Easter, Fisher declared the Church in Sydney to be in a “second spring”, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264509/australia-s-archbishop-fisher-declares-second-spring-of-faith-in-sydney-and-beyond"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">reports</mark></a> the <em>Catholic News Agency (CNA)</em>.
The US-based news agency highlights a <a href="https://catholicweekly.com.au/archbishop-fisher-declares-second-spring-of-faith-in-sydney/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">report</mark></a> in <em>Catholic Weekly </em>in which the archbishop credited, during a speech given over the weekend to Catholic business leaders, the historic growth among the faithful to the Holy Spirit.
While Fisher primarily credits the Holy Spirit for the current upward trend of religious conversion, he also noted more terrestrial factors that he sees as driving forces, such as the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
During that period and its related strains and pressures, some people were “wowed by the beauty and sacredness of the [Catholic] liturgy, art, or music” or drawn in by its sense of community, he said.<br><br>“These aren’t just people raised Catholic who are returning – but individuals from diverse backgrounds who are encountering the faith for the first time and finding something deeply compelling,” the Australian archbishop describes, adding how there is “a genuine hunger for spiritual meaning in an increasingly fragmented world”. <br><br>This phenomenon is not unique to Sydney, Fisher noted, citing <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-2025-new-catholics-by-the-numbers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">dioceses across the US</mark></a><strong> </strong>that saw similar booms in adult conversions this year.
Among them was the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which welcomed more than 5,500 new Catholics this past Easter, <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263557/los-angeles-archdiocese-reports-highest-number-of-easter-converts-in-10-years" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">its highest number of Easter converts in 10 years</mark></a>, <em>CNA</em> notes.<br><br>The Australian archbishop also pointed to the UK, which also experienced <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263329/surge-in-adults-entering-church-in-england-this-easter-prompted-by-internet-tradition" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">a surge of entrants into the Catholic Faith</mark></a> this year. France also saw a record 45 per cent increase in new converts at Easter, with young adults making up the majority of the country’s 10,384 adult conversions, <em>CNA</em> reports.
Reflecting on the increasing Mass attendance rates across the archdiocese, Fisher joked: “I might have to get a bigger cathedral.”
In addition to parish life growing, Fisher pointed to the archdiocese’s Catholic schools, noting that enrolments are “the highest they’ve ever been, and keep growing”.
Fisher delivered his speech at a 30 May event with the theme “Signs of Hope in This Jubilee Year”. The event was organised by the Archdiocese of Sydney and sponsored by <a href="https://csf.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Catholic Super</mark></a>, a retirement savings fund organisation.
“It might be too early to declare winter now past, but flowers have appeared in our land," Archbishop Fisher said. "There are signs of hope.”
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/archbishop-fisher-warns-of-anti-religious-undercurrent-in-australian-equality-bill/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><strong><em>RELATED: Archbishop Fisher warns of ‘anti-religious undercurrent’ in Australian Equality Bill</em></strong></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher (centre) and other clergy await the arrival of the casket of Cardinal George Pell at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, Australia, 1 February 2023. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images.)</em>
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