Gen Z Convert Boom Also Happening in Scotland

May this be the beginning of the reconversion of Scotland! St Andrew and all ye Saints and Martyrs of Scotland, pray for your people!

From Aleteia

By Bryan Lawrence Gonsalves

Scotland has seen an increase in the number of Catholic converts in 2026, and the numbers spell good things for the future.

As Churches all over Scotland celebrated the Easter Vigil earlier this year,  the country saw an incredible 549 people received into the Church. This presents a spiritual spectacle that hasn’t been seen before.

In the Archdiocese of St. Andrew’s and Edinburgh, the Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart sees roughly 100 young adults at the Sunday evening Mass, and there is a WhatsApp forum that contains 200+ members. While this evidence shows the city’s young people expressing interest in Roman Catholicism, the entire nation is home to many recent converts. 

I interviewed two Generation Z individuals who outlined what drew them to the Church and what they believe Catholicism offers. They shared with me their thoughts on what the future of the Church in Scotland looks like.

From Augustine to the Real Presence

From Aberdeen, Scotland, 27-year-old Aaron Johnstone was baptized and received into the Church in 2024. With a secular background, he wasn’t familiar with the Mass or Catholic traditions, but as a teenager, found his niche in philosophy. Reading St. Augustine’s works served as the catalyst for Aaron’s coming to faith. Eventually, St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings inspired him to go to Mass. From there, he enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Aaron then attended Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. He said:

“I came to the realization that it was, indeed, Christ in the monstrance.”

Aaron states that being before the Real Presence “sacramentally unites us to Calvary and eternity,” and that he finds a sense of community in the Sunday Mass and holy days of obligation, as by necessity, everyone comes together as the one Body. He believes that young people are coming to Roman Catholicism because the 2,000-year traditions, social, moral and theological laws provide answers and frameworks to live by.

He expanded by talking about the impacts of digital media on mental health: “We can turn the news on or look at the paper headlines,” he noted, “there is always a parade of terrible things going on in the world. It is made worse by smartphones. People need a Savior.”

Johnstone shared his hopes that the Church in Scotland will continue to flourish.

Part of something bigger

Corey Morrison is a 21-year-old from Inverness, a city colloquially known as the “Capital of the Scottish Highlands.” He was received into the Catholic Church at the 2026 Easter Vigil in Exeter, England, but his Catholic devotion started in Scotland. Growing up, he was irreligious; however, in the Inverness locality, the Free Church of Scotland was prominent. At school, there was participation in Christian holidays, but it was only when Corey was older that his faith grew. He attended his first Mass at St. Aidan’s in Aviemore, roughly 30 miles south of Inverness.

“It was a Latin Rite Mass,” he recounted. “I couldn’t understand what the priest was saying, but it had a power … I received a blessing, and I felt calm.”

Corey explained that Roman Catholicism appealed to him because there is a sense of community and fellowship to be found in the faith. Regular confession has been helpful, as it keeps him accountable and he finds comfort in being given non-judgemental spiritual guidance.

Finding fellowship important, he shared that young people in Generation Z need to find it too:

“[When joining a Catholic Church] it gives the young person a wider family and they join something bigger than themselves,” he said. Corey expanded by saying that after school, it is especially good to find a new place to belong, and that the Church offers this to all who are looking.

Corey encouraged young people to “give Catholicism a shot,” and said that he believes that there is a bright future ahead for the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Scotland’s Catholic future

Generation Z individuals are finding a home in the Roman Catholic Church. Whether it be due to encounters with the Risen Christ when before the Blessed Sacrament; to a community that uplifts them while providing spiritual nourishment; or answers to life’s hardships, young people are seeking comfort in Mother Church.

Right now, with the anticipative approach seen by younger people in Scotland, the Catholic Church’s future in the country is looking bright. What remains to be seen is if this upwards trajectory continues, and how the Church can harness new youthful connections. If the number of Generation Z converts continues to grow, then it is appropriate to suggest that the future of Scotland’s spirituality will bear good fruit.