24 Converts

20 years ago I was at St Stanislaus Kostka parish in Pleasant Valley, New York, and among the duties I had in that parish was instructing the new converts into the church. That particular year I had a group of 24 converts, who were all very close to each other, and collaborated well with me. Some of them were baptized and confirmed, besides receiving their first Holy Communion. Others who were Protestants were received into full communion of the Catholic church. As parish priests we were allowed to give the sacrament of Confirmation at the Easter Vigil, when catechumens are entering the church. My previous year I had around 12 converts and the following year I remember I had 8. Then I went to Oregon and again the number of converts kept increasing, especially since only 10 % of Oregon is Catholic, and I kept encouraging the people to join us. In a small parish of 250 people, one year in 2005 I had 18 converts at St Elizabeth of Hungary in John Day.