Several elderly friends, with children over thirty, confess to me, with a mixture of astonishment and disbelief, that their children have been baptized in the Catholic Church. And not only that, but those who are married have also prayed for the sacrament of matrimony, and all attend Sunday Mass, and even daily Mass when they can.

The fathers have not moved from their militant agnosticism, nor has there been a “missionary” to whom they owe their conversion.

In fact, similar cases involve approaching the church asking to join a group, or previously requesting training or information about the church, the sacraments, or the Bible.

Some have received religious instruction during their school years, others come armed with information they’ve gathered on the internet. All of this is done with complete ignorance on the part of their parents. It’s as if it were something subversive. In two cases, the parents learned of their children’s conversion when they were directly invited to the celebration of the sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist.

A friend of the parents for reasons unrelated to the Church, and knowing their ideological distance from Christians, they confess to me that they can’t understand how this phenomenon could have happened. Almost ashamed of their children’s choice, but at the same time, faced with the evidence of more lucid, orderly, and reconciling behavior, they recognize the validity of something they themselves have yet to experience. Following Jesus and his Gospel has improved their family and work life for these children.

In more than one case, the journey can’t be described as one of a search for faith, but quite the opposite. Both the forays into harmful substances and drugs, the emotional relationships materialized in a quest to satisfy desire, and the forays into other non-religious, but nonetheless spiritual, philosophies have all led to an encounter with the Christian faith.

As Alberto told his mother, “You have to understand, everything else I’ve tried hasn’t worked. No psychologist has ever been able to understand me.” Shortly after being baptized, Alberto married. His wife belonged to another religion and is also undergoing her catechetical journey, also preparing to join the Church.

Luis attended Catholic school, but never made his First Communion. His parents enrolled him there because of the quality of the teaching, but not because of the religious education itself. He was involved in a car accident, resulting in a disability that wasn’t recognized until three years later. This soured his character and resulted in violence toward those around him. His father, who was perhaps the family member closest to him, also died. He told me that he had to reach the limit to realize that he wouldn’t make it on his own. Loneliness, physical suffering, death. All of this brought him back down to earth. Reality was what it was, not what he claimed it to be. He began to recall concepts learned in school, which he had stored in his memory but never allowed to enter. He was able to free himself from the prejudices against the faith that he had implicitly lived. His pet helped him in this experience. Sometimes animals help us let our feelings flow. And deep down, he longed for the encounter with the Eternal.

He came to the parish asking to make his first communion. To return to the faith. We held a brief catechism class to prepare him. But the transformation came with confession and with the change in strategies toward others. It was about defeating enemies.

Another case, that of Oliver, can be summed up as a search to satisfy desires, even to the point of harming himself. And wanting to change his life, he became interested in the Bible. During the meetings, the questions he had were answered. He went from intellectual curiosity to the enlightenment of faith. His partner, whom he plans to marry, can’t believe this change for the better. She is a believer. As Oliver says: now we speak the same language.

The three found a church that welcomed them and led them toward full communion. The three, along with others who joined the senior community, regularly participate in the Eucharist.

Thanks to so many people who gather every day and every week, it is possible to maintain temples that welcome.

In general, the “new” ones are deeply religious. Their devotions, especially to Our Lady of the Mayan Ruins, foster a simple spirituality that strengthens their faith.

There are many more. It seems to be a modern-day phenomenon, in countries with a long-standing Christian tradition but with significant secularization.

These young people have some common characteristics, which doesn’t mean they are all like this. The first is their family environment, although far removed from the church, respectful of all religious or political views. Their response to the vocation they receive to be Christians occurs in an open environment.

Hence, although many lament the fact that society is not Catholic, the struggle is not for religious practice to be hegemonic throughout the world, but for society to foster a climate of respect for all beliefs, even the absence of them.

In this common endeavor for freedom, we Catholics can and must defend the same things as everyone else.

Sometimes radical demonstrations occur in which, in defense of Catholicism, people protest against other religions practiced by fellow citizens in other latitudes. The response against these religions is nothing less than fanaticism against religious freedom. This is a factor that our catechumens have taken into account in choosing to be Christians.

The other important factor in enabling new Christians to find a home in the Church where their identity is welcomed has also been the openness of the Christian community, which is not limited by sectarian religious barriers, in which being a Christian requires conforming to a specific mold of personality, thought, and way of life.

The transition from an environment of freedom that can be experienced at home to a community that is a church, living in communion and diversity, has not meant a break with their dialogic way of understanding the world. Being a Christian doesn’t clip our wings; rather, it opens up a greater space for us to fly.

Recently, Pope Leo XIV, in the Angelus on August 31, commenting on the Gospel of Luke, exhorted us to believe that the Church should be a house where one is always welcome and where positions are not taken. The Pope tells us that humility is freedom from oneself and is born when the Kingdom of God and His justice have truly become our concern, and we can afford to look far away, not at our toes. Pope Leo invites us to be close guests like Jesus. These young people find in the Church that closeness where it becomes a reality that the community is not alien to their situation.

In short, in addition to a free society unconstrained by rigid and totalitarian beliefs, the Christian community should also be able to listen to the story and situation of those who approach it for the first time, understanding rather than judging, and responding from a place of faith to the need expressed by those who approach it seeking the living water.

Being in an open society and experiencing the Church as a communion requires a strength of faith grounded in the Gospel and not in the worldly security of ideological certainties. While human beings need certainty to avoid the uncertainty that comes with seeking God’s will here and now, this search is what enables us to advance in human and spiritual growth. The parable of the sower speaks to us of the soil that bears fruit, and it is not precisely the most rigid soil, but rather the soil that moves to allow itself to be enriched by minerals and substances. A true symbol of openness and availability toward those who seek God.

These young people are not only here to stay, but also to renew the pessimistic mood we sometimes feel when we strive to preserve structures that give us appearance but not substance.