{"id":186190,"date":"2026-04-05T10:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186190\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:20:15","slug":"the-holy-spirit-is-moving-in-manhattan-national-catholic-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186190\/","title":{"rendered":"The Holy Spirit Is Moving in Manhattan| National Catholic Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Last November, Daniel McKenna, a personal trainer known by his social-media handle \u201cThe Irish Yank,\u201d shared a video<\/a> on Instagram of himself leaving Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Greenwich Village.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an \u2018I went to Mass\u2019 post,\u201d McKenna wrote, touting the experience as \u201cone of the best Masses I\u2019ve ever been to in my life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The video went viral, with hundreds of his followers commenting and thousands sharing it. A week later, McKenna filed another dispatch. \u201cI went back to Mass,\u201d he reported, \u201cand yes it was another banger.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenna\u2019s enthusiasm captures the spirit of a suddenly resurgent Catholic scene in the heart of Manhattan, where college students and young professionals are showing up in force at Masses and other Catholic events as if they are queuing up for the latest hot restaurant or club.<\/p>\n

Much of the fervor is focused on three specific parishes, all of which have seen a spike in Mass attendance and converts to the Catholic faith:<\/p>\n

\u00a0At St. Joseph\u2019s, the Sunday evening Mass is standing-room-only, which hardly dissuades the 150 or so people in the overflow who stood in the church\u2019s narthex on a recent Sunday. The church also saw 88 people receiving the sacraments of baptism or confirmation at the Easter vigil this year, up from 35 last year.\u00a0 At St. Patrick\u2019s Old Cathedral on the Lower East Side, the number of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, being received into the Church or returning to be confirmed also rose \u2014 to 70 from 40 the year before.\u00a0 And on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side at St. Vincent Ferrer, which draws a slightly older demographic of young professionals and a growing number of young families, 77 people were expected to be received into the Church \u2014 through baptism or confirmation \u2014 compared with 50 last year.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holy Spirit is absolutely 100% in charge of this completely,\u201d the pastor of Old St. Pat\u2019s, Father Daniel Ray, a priest with the Legionaries of Christ, told the Register.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s planning it,\u201d he added. \u201cBasically, people are wandering in that have been away for any number of years.\u201d The majority of those new to the parish, he said, are fallen-away Catholics who are returning to the faith of their childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FullFull pews at Old St. Patrick\u2019s (Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register)
\n Renovation, Then Revitalization <\/p>\n

St. Joseph\u2019s is run by priests from the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, who are known for the priority they place on good preaching and a rigorous intellectual tradition that makes them a natural fit for the post-grads and students at nearby New York University, where they run the chaplaincy.<\/p>\n

Dominican Father Boniface Endorf, the parish\u2019s pastor, confirmed to the Register that \u201csomething is happening in this city,\u201d as evidenced by his overflowing church \u2014 1,500 people show up for Mass every Sunday.<\/p>\n

More than half of this year\u2019s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) class were unbaptized catechumens, he said. That\u2019s a sharp increase from previous years, when most converts were Protestants who decided to become Catholic. \u201cNow we\u2019re getting people who are completely beyond the Church,\u201d Father Endorf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s greater interest in the faith among a lot of people,\u201d Father Endorf added. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense that there has to be more in life than just career and consumerism and materialism. And there\u2019s a desire to connect to something deeper and spiritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"St.Dominican Father Boniface Endorf, St. Joseph\u2019s pastor, celebrates Palm Sunday Mass on March 29. (Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

Many of those coming into the Church, he said, have told him that conservative Christian influencer Charlie Kirk\u2019s murder had a huge effect on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they saw their colleagues cheering the death of Charlie Kirk, it really shocked them and pushed them to ask deeper questions, which led them to start thinking about their faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The pews weren\u2019t always packed at St. Joseph\u2019s. The church, which was founded in 1829, was down to only about 300 parishioners, until Cardinal Edward Egan, in 2003, asked the Dominicans to take over the parish, while maintaining the chaplaincy at the Catholic Center at New York University.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges for Father Endorf when he arrived at St. Joseph\u2019s in 2018 was to make up for 40 years of neglected maintenance. He took the opportunity to set into motion several renovations that he says have helped make the parish\u2019s success today possible.<\/p>\n

The church \u2014 which in 1972 had undergone a \u201cmodernization,\u201d stripping it of its statues, paintings, confessionals and Stations of the Cross, and shifting the tabernacle to the side of the sanctuary \u2014 was due for a restoration to its former glory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, Father Endorf had two confessionals put in and began offering daily confession, including before every Sunday Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then he had a parish hall built in the church\u2019s once-rat-infested basement. Today, many parish ministries meet there, including \u201cIn Vino Veritas,\u201d a popular post-Sunday evening Mass gathering for young adults featuring wine, cheese and a theological talk by a Dominican friar.<\/p>\n

In 2023, St. Joseph\u2019s officially opened the city\u2019s first perpetual Eucharistic adoration chapel, offering key cards to parishioners and NYU students so they can pray there 24 hours a day. Father Endorf said the friars will have as many as 20 or so young people join them in the chapel to chant morning or evening prayer.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe adoration chapel at St. Joseph\u2019s also draws young families.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

Together with traditional liturgies, music has played a part in the revitalization. The pastor says that \u201cthe best chant choir in the city\u201d sings at the 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, and a band plays contemporary, jazz-infused music at the 6 p.m. Sunday Mass \u2014 the one featured in the viral social-media posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of them are Broadway musicians, and they attract a lot of people,\u201d Father Endorf noted.<\/p>\n

The typical parishioner at St. Joseph\u2019s is in his or her 20s or 30s and has moved to New York for a job. Father Endorf explained that the organizing principle behind the way the Dominicans run the parish is based on the transient nature of their parish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our average parishioner for two to five years because the get their first job in New York City, and then they get married, or they get tired of the city, and they leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to form them as best we can in those two to five years,\u201d Father Endorf said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"St.Dominican Father Boniface Endorf incenses the altar during Palm Sunday Mass 2026.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

In addition to the wine-and-cheese social and theological talk after Mass, St. Joseph\u2019s offers a weekly discussion of matters of faith and hosts the New York City chapter of the Thomistic Institute, a Dominican apostolate, as well as a book group, a men\u2019s group, a moms\u2019 group, and a group for singles on marriage as a vocation, among other lay-led ministries.<\/p>\n

Once newcomers have been going to the 6 p.m. Mass for a while, Father Endorf said, they often \u201cgraduate\u201d to the more traditional Mass as they become more serious about their faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people that will tell me, \u201cI\u2019m not really on board with the Church on a lot of things,\u2019\u201d Father Endorf said. \u201cAnd then two years later, they say, \u2018I\u2019ll only date Catholics.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The parish has also produced several vocations. \u201cThe Holy Spirit has been so active,\u201d the pastor told the Register.<\/p>\n

Sean Leahy, 29, standing on Sixth Avenue as young adults congregated after the 6 p.m. Mass, recently began attending Mass again after years away from the Church after a friend invited him to St. Joseph\u2019s. Before Mass that evening, Leahy, who works in corporate finance, went to confession for the first time in 10 years.<\/p>\n

Leahy said he appreciated the homily at Mass, in which the priest talked about the demands of living a Christian life in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like the message was geared towards a younger audience today, and I specifically liked that, he said.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung Catholics chat outside of St. Joseph\u2019s.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register)
\n New Energy at Old St. Pat\u2019s <\/p>\n

Eight blocks east from St. Joseph\u2019s, past Washington Square, is St. Patrick\u2019s Old Cathedral, known as Old St. Patrick\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The historic Gothic Revival church, established in 1815 and rebuilt in 1868 following a fire, was the first cathedral church for the Diocese of New York, serving that role until the St. Patrick\u2019s on Fifth Avenue opened in 1879. There, too, the young-adult Mass, held at 7 p.m., is standing-room-only.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Father Ray, who has worked at the church since 2019, said he first noticed the increase in interest among young adults just before COVID hit, but saw it really take off between 2022 and 2023. He recently decided to add another Sunday evening Mass.<\/p>\n

\"MassMass at Old St. Patrick\u2019s(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

He said that the pressures of living in New York and working 70 hours a week while \u201cresting really hard\u201d on weekends, have led some to seek out the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re having everything that they could humanly want, except they\u2019re missing community, and their missing God from their life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He has been struck by the number of people who grew up in another denomination or were raised without any religion or were members of a non-Christian faith asking to become Catholic.<\/p>\n

Father Ray said these converts and reverts are eager to learn more about the faith, and \u201cthey\u2019re not picking and choosing\u201d aspects of the Church that they like, like some people from past generations might have.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, they\u2019re just all in, and it\u2019s amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"MassMass at Old St. Patrick\u2019s draws many young people.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

The liturgy at Old St. Patrick\u2019s, he said, is \u201chighly formalized,\u201d featuring classical music, which he thinks is appealing to young people looking to the Catholic faith for meaning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s that sense of bringing out the best music that the Church has to offer over the last 800 years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really connects them with the past, which connects them with their identity and connects them with eternal things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ReceptionReception of Holy Communion during Mass at Old St. Patrick\u2019s(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

There are also many opportunities for community. After the 7 p.m. Sunday Mass, the parish has a young-adult wine social, and during the summer, the parish hosts barbecues in the backyard of the rectory. Parishioners organize a wide range of activities hosted at the parish, from weekly waltz dancing to Bible study.<\/p>\n

The personal relationships that these small groups foster helps support young adults just starting to practice their faith, as their \u201cfriend group becomes their church group,\u201d Father Ray said.<\/p>\n

\"AA young Massgoer at Old St. Patrick\u2019s(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register)
\n St. Vincent Ferrer Serves Older Young Adults <\/p>\n

At St. Vincent Ferrer, a Dominican-run parish since 1867, the appeal includes the beauty of the old stone church (Andy Warhol, who once lived nearby, was said to be found praying in a back pew almost every day<\/a>), the excellence of the Dominican preaching and professionally performed sacred music.<\/p>\n

However, the pastor, Father Peter Martyr Yungwirth, believes that offering extra Mass and confession times has been key to the three parishes\u2019 success. The fact that these parishes are operated by religious orders is another advantage, he added.<\/p>\n

\"St.Dominican Father Peter Martyr Yungwirth celebrates Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer Church.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

While the Archdiocese of New York is suffering from a shortage of parish priests, there are 13 Dominican priests at St. Vincent Ferrer and five priests at St. Joseph\u2019s and the Catholic Center at NYU. Old St. Patrick\u2019s has five priests from the Legionaries of Christ.<\/p>\n

Throughout a recent noon Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer, a dozen or so faithful were lined up for confession, which is offered before (and during) every Sunday Mass. Father Yungwirth said the parish recently built a confessional to fit a stroller to accommodate young families.<\/p>\n

St. Vincent Ferrer serves a slightly older demographic than does St. Joseph\u2019s in the West Village. In fact, after a few years, St. Joseph parishioners often move uptown and join St. Vincent\u2019s, leading to an oft-repeated quip that you date and marry at St. Joseph\u2019s and then have a baby at St. Vincent\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Eucharist is adored at St. Vincent Ferrer.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

As a result, St. Vincent\u2019s parishioners are more likely to stay in the city and invest in the parish \u2014 at least until the upscale neighborhood\u2019s small apartments and lack of affordable schools make it untenable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Emilia Tanu Chornay told the Register she and her husband and their two small children cross the city on public transportation to get to St. Vincent\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Chornay started going to St. Vincent Ferrer in 2020, before she lived in Manhattan, because they offered a 6 p.m. Mass that she could go to after work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MassDominican Father Peter Martyr Yungwirth prays during Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

\u201cThe parish itself was always very vibrant in terms of really keeping to its sacramental core,\u201d she said, noting that the priests celebrate multiple Masses each day. \u201cThat\u2019s a unique thing in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once they started seeing the numbers of young adults increasing at the parish, which also includes St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, the Dominicans launched several initiatives to serve that population, including a monthly talk followed by a discussion and social hour, called \u201cClub Dominica.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"St.St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church is also shepherded by the Dominicans.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

Young adults are heavily involved in parish life: They host the family pancake breakfast, a group of young women is reviving a long-ago-discarded tradition of putting together a cookbook using parishioners\u2019 recipes, and others were put in charge of organizing a reception after the Easter vigil this year.<\/p>\n

The Dominicans at St. Vincent Ferrer, Chornay said, offer an extensive slate of programs \u2014 for adult formation, for families and young adults \u2014 but do so in a way that doesn\u2019t feel that it\u2019s meant to be \u201cpurely social.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like these all came about because of their regular offering \u2014 and very beautiful offering \u2014 of the sacraments,\u201d said Chornay, who with her husband mentors couples in the marriage-preparation program, where they often help others navigate the unique challenges of family life in the city.<\/p>\n

She said the parish has become a real community quite naturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople just started to become friends and decided to commit to making this their parish.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"EucharisticEucharistic procession gets underway at St. Vincent Ferrer Church.(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register)
\n \u00a0Feed My Sheep <\/p>\n

The attention all three of these parishes have generated \u2014 including from social-media influencer Anthony Gross<\/a>, whose popular videos on TikTok rank Catholic churches in New York City \u2014 has attracted a second wave of newcomers, allowing them to build on the firm foundations that were already in place, pastors and parishioners say.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung adults fill the pews at St. Joseph\u2019s. (Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re seeing that, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s lots of people going to this place who care about their faith. If I\u2019m trying to find a church, I should probably start in one of these places,\u2019\u201d Father Yungwirth said.<\/p>\n

McKenna, the \u201cIrish Yank,\u201d is happy that his posts have played a part.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do love it when people come up and say, \u2018I saw your video and I came in and it was unbelievable,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the whole point,\u201d McKenna added, while seated outside his favorite coffee spot, Porto Rico Importing Co., around the corner from St. Joseph\u2019s, with Dougal, his Rottweiler, at his side.<\/p>\n

\"DanielDaniel McKenna and his dog, Dougal(Photo: Jeffrey Bruno for the National Catholic Register) <\/p>\n

He said many people who saw his posts mistakenly believed he\u2019d undergone a conversion. In fact, he was a regular Massgoer before stumbling upon the Mass at St. Joseph\u2019s \u2014 \u201cI just never told anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Lord works in amazing ways. I think there are people there who are way more into the Lord \u2014 or Catholicism or Christianity \u2014 than me,\u201d McKenna said of the people filling the pews at St. Joseph\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the whole point of believing in the Lord. You can meet him where you\u2019re at, and once you kind of believe there\u2019s someone there, then it grows,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more you go, the better you find it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n