In conversation with The Tablet last week, Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, Florida, noted that the southeast Florida diocese is growing to the point that he’s begun the strategic planning process to open two new parishes.
“Here in [the Diocese of] Palm Beach there is not even one parish that is not growing,” Bishop Rodríguez said. “We are getting new people in all of our churches.
“All of our parishes are packed.”
The Diocese of Palm Beach isn’t a large diocese, covering five counties and serving about 260,000 Catholics. However, its growth, the vibrancy of the culture, and the enthusiasm for the faith that exist there, as described by Bishop Rodríguez, are a testament to what’s happening nationwide, and not always where you would expect.
Those stories deserve our attention.
On the other side of the country, Las Vegas — “Sin City” of all places — has grown so much that in 2023 Pope Francis made it the first new Roman Catholic archdiocese in America in 19 years, serving 800,000 to 1 million Catholics, according to Archbishop George Leo Thomas. The archdiocese also opened a new parish in 2024 to keep pace with the growth.
“The carnality and secularism of the Las Vegas Strip, I think, has caused people to really own their faith, and I think that Las Vegas stands for intentional Catholicism,” Archbishop Thomas told The Tablet in 2024. “People love the Lord. They love the Church. They love the faith, and I think it is a direct reaction to the carnality of the strip.”
Elsewhere, the Diocese of Phoenix has soared in recent years to become the second most populated diocese in the United States, with a Catholic population of over 2 million, according to the 2025 edition of The Official Catholic Directory. They, too, recently opened a new parish for the first time since 2021, with Auxiliary Bishop Peter Dai Bui saying it’s a “visible sign of the continued growth and vitality of the Diocese of Phoenix.”
Consider even a small mission diocese like Little Rock, Arkansas, where about 180,000 Catholics account for about 5% of the state’s total population. Two Brooklyn priests recently visited there and raved to The Tablet about what they saw.
“We were immersed in the reality of the Church in Arkansas, a classic mission diocese where the faith is strong; the resources are limited,” Father Hugues Berrette said. “The Catholics of Arkansas are a small minority, but they are not a sad minority. They are joyful. They are welcoming, and they are proud of their Catholic faith.”
Traditional faith hotspots like the Archdioceses of Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Chicago, along with the Diocese of Brooklyn, continue to serve millions of Catholics each and every day, and the enthusiasm for the faith is constantly on display.
The list can go on and on and on.
The point is that there are countless examples of dioceses across the United States where there is a palpable vibrancy and enthusiasm for the faith, often coupled with significant growth.
Of course, that isn’t the case everywhere, and headlines about areas experiencing a different reality are easy to find, especially in secular spaces. However, in recent years, more and more examples of places like the Diocese of Palm Beach show real enthusiasm and vibrancy for the faith, leading to significant growth and conversations about opening parishes and schools.
As stated at the outset, those stories deserve our attention.