The Holy Spirit is Moving in Manhattan
In August of 2025, the Legionaries of Christ were assigned the Basilica of Old St. Pat’s, and in December, Fr. Daniel Ray was installed as pastor at the historic church, the first cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York. Originally primarily serving the Irish immigrant population, the basilica has become one of the central parishes for young professionals in Manhattan, and is also home to Spanish and Italian communities.
And these days, Old St. Pat’s is one of three Manhattan parishes seeing a resurgence in Mass attendance, particularly among college students and young professionals. Along with St. Joseph’s in Greenwich Village and St. Vincent Ferrer on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, at Old St. Pat’s, young people are showing up in droves to sometimes standing-room-only Masses, and OCIA numbers have nearly doubled from previous years. This year at Old St. Pat’s, 70 people were confirmed at the Easter Vigil, up from 40 the year before.
Many of those attending the overflowing Masses at Old St. Pat’s are fallen-away Catholics who are returning to the faith of their childhood after several years, Fr. Daniel told the National Catholic Register in an article on the Catholic boom in Manhattan. But some are people who have grown up in another denomination or non-Christian religion, or were raised without any faith at all.