“I wanted something new and something traditional and something that felt holy.”
By Catholics for Catholics
That old time religion is making a comeback. To a point.
According to a new Gallup survey, young men are seemingly becoming more religious and converting to the Catholic Church. But women, who used to be more religious, are leaving Christianity or ignoring it completely, according to a story by The New York Times;.
The Times story said that for several years many pastors across the country have noticed young adults, especially men, filling their temples, though some are still baffled as to why their numbers are growing.
The new Gallup survey adds credibility to those anecdotal reports. The poll finds a strong upsurge in the share of men under 30 who say that religion is “very important” to them: 42 percent in 2025, from 28 percent in 2023.
Consider the case of Mason Gubser, then a teenager living outside Houston who found himself ever more disenchanted by a life that looked like it revolved around his smart phone.
“All my entertainment is right here in front of me, but there’s no fulfillment from that,” Gubser said. “I wanted something new and something traditional and something that felt holy.”
Gubser, now 21, found his quest at the Catholic center on campus at Texas A&M University, where he is a petroleum engineering major. Gubser has been a confirmed Catholic for two years and is soon to be married. He attends Holy Mass once or twice a week.
“What I was really looking for, and still am, was purpose,” he said. “The church definitely provides that.”
However, for young women it’s a different story.
Though the numbers in the Gallup survey found that young men are becoming more religious, young women are not. In fact, religion is dropping in meaning among young women, widening a surprising gender gap for young adults.
For decades, surveys found that women were constantly more religious than their male peers. Not anymore.
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