Baltimore Sun

All have found their way to the Roman Catholic Church as members of the largest class of converts the Archdiocese of Baltimore has seen this decade. Nine hundred and eighty-four local adults are preparing to become Catholics during Holy Week this year, a third more than joined the church locally in 2008.

The surge has caught archdiocesan officials by surprise – and left them at something of a loss for explanations.

“It’s really hard to say,” Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien said, before suggesting a variety of possible factors: uncertain economic times, the Washington visit last year of Pope Benedict XVI, the vibrancy of individual parishes.