by Lisa Fletcher

Across the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, increasing numbers of high school students are expressing a beautiful desire: to become Catholic. Now, a revised archdiocesan policy helps that desire take root by bringing parishes and schools together in a spirit of collaboration. For the first time, students have a welcoming, structured, and accessible way to enter the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) process, beginning their discernment within the school community they already know and trust and continuing sacramental formation within their parish.

For many years, Catholic high school students drawn to join the Catholic Church often didn’t know where to begin. While most Catholic elementary schools are parish-based, the majority of Catholic high schools stand independent of parishes, leaving teenagers, and often their families, uncertain about how to enter OCIA or even whom to approach.

It also created practical barriers, as evening OCIA classes frequently collided with extracurricular schedules, including for jobs, clubs, sports, and other activities. And, “as you can imagine, if a student hasn’t been to a Catholic church in the past or very infrequently, [both student and parents] would most of the time be hesitant to take the next steps,” said Fr. Jacob DuMont, LC, Deputy Superintendent of Catholic Mission and Culture for the archdiocese. He oversees Catholic identity across the 24 high schools in the archdiocese, 10 archdiocesan and 14 private, and has seen the need grow for several years. For many students, the desire was there, but the support and clarity were not.

That changed this year! The Center for the New Evangelization’s new policy formally establishes collaboration between high schools and parishes to enable students to begin discernment and preparation within their school community; campus ministers guide them and parishes provide sacramental formation. For the first time, Catholic high schools have a clear, structured, and pastorally grounded way to accompany students who express the desire to enter into full communion with the Church. And the archdiocese is already seeing the fruits of this change. 

The challenge prior to the new policy was highlighted most vividly when a campus minister contacted Fr. DuMont about five students who wanted to join the Church.

“She reached out to a local pastor and director of the OCIA program to see if she could do some of the formation at the high school,” Fr. DuMont said. The parish leaders decided “to have the students just come to the parish—and most of the five students decided not to move forward with the process.”

That event made something clear: structure, collaboration, and accessibility were necessary to meet high school students and bring them into the Church.

The new policy directly addresses this challenge by:

• Formally requiring collaboration between pastors and campus ministers
• Allowing initial accompaniment and discernment to take place within the school community
• Ensuring the parish remains the home for sacramental preparation, but is not the sole entry point
• Encouraging formation schedules that respect students’ academic, extracurricular, and work commitments
• Mandating that parishes be ready and welcoming to high school-age candidates

“With this new policy, there is a stronger emphasis on the collaborative effort between a Catholic high school and parish to ensure a more supportive process,” Fr. DuMont said. “High school students should be embraced by the parish community and accompanied by the same on their journey of faith.”

The hope, Fr. DuMont said, is rooted in evangelization: “We are called to look for new ways to reach out to families today, to invite them into a deeper relationship with our Lord. Our Catholic high schools provide a great place for evangelization and inviting students and their families to grow in their relationship with the Lord.”

At Bishop Fenwick High School, the impact was immediate and significant.

“We currently have 10 students who are discerning entry into full communion with the Catholic Church,” said campus minister Ally McGrath. “It’s incredibly moving to witness the Lord stirring this desire in so many of our young people.”

This year marks the first time Fenwick could offer such a structured pathway, and it was made possible by student interest and the policy shift.

“Being able to go through this process with peers and in an environment, they are already familiar with takes a lot of pressure and fear off our students,” McGrath explained. “Students juggling athletics, clubs, and jobs now have a path fitted to their reality rather than in conflict with it. Making the OCIA process available to them through Fenwick and in partnership with St. Maximilian Catholic Church has made receiving the sacraments far more accessible within their full schedules.”

For McGrath, the change is more than logistical; it’s spiritual. “I am thrilled!” she emphasized. “I have had the privilege of walking with several of these students as they have encountered Christ and discovered the beauty of the Catholic faith.”

She sees the new policy as part of a broader movement in the Church: “I believe the Church is entering into a new era of evangelization. We must be prepared to go out, introduce the faith, and bring others into the Church through a process that is as welcoming as possible.”

McGrath shared her belief that students are responding, “To me, it’s a sign that our Church is alive, sees the needs of its people, and draws near, just as Christ does.”

Elder High School is also seeing the fruits of the policy change. Campus minister Al Kovacic said,  “I marvel at the fact that in my 29 years of teaching, I have never had this many students seek to enter the Catholic faith.” Five Elder students might enter the Church this Easter—far more than in previous years.

While Kovacic doesn’t think the students were aware of the policy change, he sees a meaningful difference: “They seem to have made things simpler on the school side of things, as we help students navigate their way through the OCIA process in a way that’s more comfortable and accessible to them.”

The familiarity matters. “It’s comfortable because they know their campus ministers and chaplains and will want to work with us more,” he explained.

Ultimately, he sees the Spirit at work. “The Holy Spirit seems to be working through the school and it’s wonderful to see.”

As more high schools adopt the policy—Fr. DuMont noted Moeller, McNicholas, Elder, and Fenwick already have—one thing is clear: when the Church makes the path accessible, young people respond.

The new policy does not replace parishes; rather, it strengthens them by ensuring that when a student says yes to Christ, the Church is ready together to receive that yes fully.

For an increasing number of students, that path now begins not with confusion or hesitation, but with a trusted mentor, a supportive school community, and a straight, welcoming road to Jesus Christ and His Church.

This article appeared in the January 2026 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.