I have just seen this article in the First Things Daily Newsletter of April 8th, 2026:
Parks, Jillian, “Looking for the Real Catholic Church in New York City”
Jillian Parks is a “junior fellow” at First Things magazine – in other words, a recent college graduate. She describes herself as a “Reformed Protestant.” Does this mean, in the context of New York City, a member of the Dutch Reformed Church? Far more likely, she is of the evangelical/charismatic persuasion. Now she has heard much about the rebirth of Catholicism among younger people in New York City and set out to test that image by attending Easter vigil services at the Church of St. Joseph in the Village.
St. Joseph’s has been in the hands of the Dominican order for a number of years and is linked to the Catholic center at NYU. Thus, one would expect a youthful crowd. However, this definitely is a recent development. Before the coming of the Dominicans, St. Joseph’s for decades was a test bed for all kinds of Catholic progressive experimentation: in theology, liturgy, art and sexuality. For a description and brief history of this parish see “The Catholics of Greenwich Village – and those of NYU,” The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny (1/31/2016)
Ms. Parks is surprised to find that St. Joseph’s interior lacks “the ornate woodwork, formidable stained-glass windows, vaulted ceilings and Baroque flourishes that I have come to expect in New York City Catholic churches.” I would point out to her that the 1834 St. Joseph’s is a particularly old church, built at a time when Catholics utilized the same neoclassical style as did their Protestant neighbors. Moreover, after the Second Vatican Council this church had suffered a particularly drastic “purification” of its Victorian decoration, contributing to the current stark interior.
Now apparently the size of the congregation has been increasing. Indeed, according to the pastor, on occasion the number of people present strains the capacity of the church – which would make St. Joseph’s rather unusual among New York City parishes.
Curiously, Ms. Parks states that “maybe due to a cultural distrust in journalism or a dissatisfaction with recent media coverage, nobody at the vigil wanted to speak to me about Saint Joe’s or his or her conversion experience.” I suggest that there are very good and valid reasons to avoid talking with journalists! But Ms. Parks says she overheard what a ”recent convert behind me” explained to his neighbor as to why he chose St. Joseph’s over Our Lady of Pompeii church right down the street. It’s beautiful, he said, but it’s empty. For the situation at St. Joseph’s or at the other Dominican parish St. Vincent Ferrer/St. Catherine of Siena is not representative of New York City parishes.
Ms. Parks did obtain an interview at some point with Rebecca Krinzman who is described as having “received the sacraments” at St. Joseph’s in January. Although Ms. Krinzman claims to have had some acquaintance with Catholicism in Spain and, later while at college, attended Mass, when she came to St. Joseph’s, she entered the OCIA program.
(Krinzman) cited the aesthetic coherence and cultural and political visibility of the Catholic Church as some of the reasons for the Gen-Z draw but pointed to its call for community and discipline as the more fundamental pull.
The claims that the Church makes and the discipline and sacrifice it requires were really what drew me in.
Other observations in this piece are more problematic. Again, according to Ms. Krinzman, “beneath the many layers of irony and anemoia among so-called TradCaths I believe the draw is rooted in a genuine and pure desire to recover something real that has been lost.” (“Anemoia” Is a recent made-up word indicating nostalgia for something never actually experienced (such a strange notion of nostalgia!)) As always, it is almost ritualistic for a member of a “conservative Novus Ordo“ community to gratuitously take a swing against traditionalist Catholics, who are here indicted for dishonesty.
Ms. Parks found “the exuberant joy that takes hold of a Protestant congregation in celebration was largely missing from the vigil, especially in its baptismal liturgy and congregational singing. That which overemphasizes austere reverence is often drained of its vitality, and vice versa.“ Parks perhaps means the “exuberant joy “characteristic of evangelical or born-again congregations, which is not, in my experience, what necessarily prevails in mainstream Protestant denominations. Otherwise, the four-hour plus Easter vigil liturgy seemed to her to be more of a penitential and ascetic exercise (which is indeed one aspect of it!)
What did strike her is the changing illumination of the church, a feature inherited from Catholic tradition. As she put it:
While we journey through the mysteries of God’s work to save his beloved creation, the room was illuminated by candles representing the light of Christ that shines in his church, “a fire into many flames provided yet never dimmed by sharing of its light.” After the readings concluded the lights came on for good signifying the elucidating work of faith in our lives: faith that requires the same endurance patience and fortitude to see to its mystery as the mass requires of its attendees.
Now I don’t know what the liturgy and music at Saint Joseph’s actually are like. But I think it’s telling that, other than the above remarks, Ms. Parks says nothing at all about the music, the vestments, the ceremony, the homily or the readings . That would seem to indicate to me that the Novus Ordo service has not made a major impression on at least one otherwise sympathetic visitor.
Ms. Parks rightly points out that the fact of rising participation and conversions of younger people not just in New York City but in Europe has to be balanced against the much larger number of cradle Catholics who are ceasing to practice the faith. Thus, the future for a smaller group may be good, but the overall situation for the institution remains uncertain.
As to the “church crawling,” the positive evaluations of St. Joseph’s made by Ms. Parks and her dialogue/eavesdropping partners were entirely consistent with the attitudes of a very secularized American Protestantism: the charismatic qualities of the pastor, the clarity of the preaching, the growth and size of the congregation, the “incredible” community and the “unbelievable” support they offer. Yet the liturgy – the worship of God -was given short shrift! if Ms. Parks will be continuing her survey of Catholicism, I would suggest she visit Holy Innocents church in Manhattan which celebrates the traditional mass. Or better yet, get on Metro-North and come to Norwalk, CT. At the traditional Latin Mass at St. Mary’s, she will experience an entirely different perspective on the Catholic faith.
