GREENWICH VILLAGE — In recent months, major newspapers and national media outlets have zeroed in on what they have deemed an “unexpected trend” unfolding in Lower Manhattan: Gen Z is going to church — and in large numbers.  

At St. Joseph’s Church, standing-room-only Masses have turned the historic parish into an unlikely spiritual “hot spot” in the middle of one of America’s most secular cities. 

But an unanswered question remains: Why there? Why now? 

Part of the answer may lie just blocks away at New York University — often thought of by many to be one of the more secular college campuses in the country.  

In the shadow of Washington Square Park, where nightlife, protests, drug use, and more than 100 reported crimes this past year, according to the NYPD, reflect the turbulence of downtown Manhattan life, the Catholic Center at NYU has become a major channel feeding that “revival.” 

“On average, two students per week since the beginning of the fall semester have walked in simply asking to see a priest and saying they’d like to become Catholic,” said Father Cassian Derbes, director and chaplain of The Catholic Center at NYU. 

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At night, passersby beneath the Washington Square Arch can look straight down Fifth Avenue and see the tabernacle and illuminated crucifix inside St. John Henry Newman Chapel — a sight that, faith leaders suggest, is not as ironic as mainstream media has made it out to be, but instead reflects how young adults in the midst of downtown Manhattan’s noise and chaos may actually be increasingly drawn toward faith.  

“Gen Z is looking for answers they haven’t found elsewhere,” Father Derbes explained. “They find the goodness of tradition as something safe, stable, solid, reliable, and confident — a remedy to loneliness and anxiety.” 

So, to answer the question New York Magazine recently posed, “Are We Actually Experiencing a Christian Revival?” Well, we might just be seeing it. 

One of the clearest signs of that shift is the steady pipeline flowing from The Catholic Center into St. Joseph’s Church. At St. Joseph’s Church, which partners with the center through the Dominican Friars serving Lower Manhattan, 88 people were baptized or confirmed during this year’s Easter Vigil, up from 41 the year before. Fifteen of those candidates were students directly connected to The Catholic Center.  

Father Derbes said Bible study groups and daily Mass attendance at The Catholic Center have more than doubled this academic year. Over the past month alone, more than 900 students have come through The Center’s doors, not including major events. 

Father Vincent Bernhard, associate director and chaplain at The Catholic Center, said the growth is directly tied to the pressures many students experience arriving at NYU and New York City itself. 

“Students are trying to figure out how they can pursue excellence and be successful in the world but also be holy and love God above all things,” he said. “They know how it works conceptually, but how all of that fits together in their lives can cause tension.” 

And, as a generation that grew up in the presence of social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, and global instability, Father Bernhard said many Gen Z students are searching for something deeper than the success-driven culture surrounding them. 

“They’re constantly being told what to want, how they should be, and what success looks like,” Bernhard said. “But they’re starting to ask deeper questions: ‘Who am I? What do I want? What does it mean to be a good person?’ ” 

Connected to NYU’s student center, The Catholic Center sits in one of the university’s busiest hubs, with thousands of students passing through the building each day. 

“To be at the heart of Greenwich Village, the heart of university life, an area which is so bustling with students is a tremendous blessing and an opportunity for evangelization,” Father Derbes said. 

The Catholic Center at NYU is available to the over 145,000 undergraduate and graduate students at NYU and nine other Manhattan colleges, offering daily Mass, confession, spiritual direction, Bible studies, lectures, career-focused events, and student group meetings. 

While The Catholic Center closes during the summer months, staff remain in contact with students and continue to host select programs, including pilgrimages and other faith-based events, to help students stay connected to their faith beyond the academic year. That outreach continues in a city where, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, only 18% of adults in the New York metropolitan area identify as Catholic.  

Lillian McKenna, a 20-year-old junior at NYU, serves as president of the university’s chapter of the Thomistic Institute, a Catholic academic organization that promotes theology, philosophy, and the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas through lectures and discussions. The journey back to her faith began when a friend invited her to Mass at St. Joseph’s Church last year. 

“I realized how much I actually needed it,” she said. “It completely changed my life.” 

Soon after, McKenna entered the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) and was confirmed at St. Joseph’s, joining the growing number of catechumens at the parish. 

Other students described arriving at NYU immersed in achievement-driven culture before beginning to reevaluate what success meant to them. 

Sophomore Marco Terrizzi, 19, arrived at NYU from a Chicago suburb, focused almost entirely on athletics, achievement, and experiencing New York City. 

“You realize this is not where happiness is, living for the world,” he said. “You realize there’s a different calling in life and a deeper meaning to everything that’s around you.” 

Terrizzi said it was “by the grace of God” he found The Catholic Center, which gave him a sense of direction and community that campus life alone could not provide. 

“I found a truly tight-knit family,” he said. “You surround yourself with phenomenal people every day, and that changes your life.” 

For Christina Joseph, a 23-year-old public health graduate student from Kerala, India, spiritual direction meetings with Father Derbes and The Catholic Center’s lectures helped deepen her faith after moving to New York City. 

But her connection to St. Joseph’s began in a simpler way. 

At her first 6 p.m. Mass after arriving in Manhattan, the opening hymn was “Lord, I Need You.” 

“I remember thinking,” Joseph said, “‘Yeah, I really do need God right now.’ ”