Vice President JD Vance launches his memoir this week on returning to Catholicism—putting a spotlight on religious converts, a small but notably more observant slice of American Catholics. According to the Pew Research Center, about one and a half percent of US adults have converted to the faith, and converts attend Mass far more regularly than those born into it. But there's a critical tension: the Church loses eight former Catholics for every new adult convert it gains. Researchers call it 'religious resilience' rather than revival—suggesting Vance's conversion reflects cultural currents more than institutional momentum.

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