This past April, as we gathered in Rome for the solemn duty of burying our beloved Pope Francis and electing a new Holy Father, my brother cardinals and I met for two weeks of day-long meetings to prepare for the conclave. We would discuss what was happening back home in our dioceses, what challenges we face, what qualities we thought the next Pope should possess.

Despite the sadness we all felt at the loss of Pope Francis, there was a common hopeful refrain we cardinals heard over and over again.

During one coffee break, one cardinal said, “Have you noticed all the young people from around the world who are here in Rome?”

“I walked through Saint Peter’s Square today and spent time talking to a group of teenage pilgrims, here for the Jubilee Year of Hope,” another remarked.

“A group from one of the universities back home is here in Rome, and invited me to say Mass for them,” mentioned a third.

Just a few weeks back, I could not help but be impressed by the sight of one million young people with Pope Leo at Tor Vergata field, just outside Rome. They came to be with the new Pope, of course, but also to be pilgrims and join in the Jubilee Year of Hope.

Since returning to New York, I’ve noticed a similar trend. My pastors tell me that more people are attending Mass, and they reported a definite uptick in people freely choosing to become Catholic or return to Church.

A recent study by Harvard University confirmed the trend among the so-called Generation Z, which saw a 6% increase from 2022 to 2023 in those identifying as Catholic.

Walking through Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, I am always impressed by the number of young people there, not just as tourists, but on line for confession, in the Lady Chapel for Adoration, or attending one of the seven daily Masses.

There are likely many reasons behind this welcome development. Blessed Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who heroically lived out his faith and died in 2006 at just 15 years of age, has provided a great role model for young people to emulate.

He’s not some dim figure from centuries past, but a young man who had a cellphone, loved video games, and used his computer to build an exhibit dedicated to Eucharistic miracles around the world. His canonization by Pope Leo on Sunday, Sept. 7, is sure to make his story even better known.

So will the story of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, also to be canonized on Sept. 7. A young Italian student, a fervent and joyful believer, a great lover of the outdoors, politically active in social causes, he contracted polio during his care for the sick, and died at the young age of 24.

His last request, written with a near-paralyzed hand, was for his friend to take his medicine and give it to another.

I like to think our outreach to young adults is also having an impact. Regular Masses at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, followed by socializing at a nearby bar or restaurant, combined with opportunities for community service and faith formation, meet the needs that I think we all desire: faith, friendship, and the opportunity to help others.

Our Catholic schools — elementary, secondary, and colleges and universities — play a role as well. We’ve placed a renewed emphasis on ensuring that our grammar and high schools, while academically excellent, are also rooted in teaching and passing on the faith in everything they do.

It’s not just our Catholic colleges, like Fordham, Iona, Manhattan, and Saint John’s, where faith plays a role. We have robust campus ministries programs too, at schools like NYU and Columbia, for instance, to meet the spiritual needs of undergrads and graduate students, many away from home for the first time.

Then, too, the world seems a big mess! War, injustice, famine, violence, bigotry, mass shootings, political vitriol — those inclined to look to the world for meaning now know better.

Finally, and most importantly, though, there is, in the human heart, an innate desire for meaning. For too long, we taught our young people that there was no objective truth, that right and wrong were outdated concepts, and “if it feels good, do it.”

As the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen so eloquently put it, “People aren’t looking for a question mark, but an exclamation point!”

We look for clarity, not ambiguity.

The Catholic faith, centered on Jesus and His Church, its belief in eternal, unwavering truth, and a moral code that differentiates between good and evil, grace and sin, provides that direction.

The old Baltimore catechism began with a simple question: Why did God make me? Its answer: God made me to know Him, love him, and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.

We still believe that, and offer that “sure and certain hope” to all the world. Many are once again taking us up on that offer.

Cardinal Dolan is the archbishop of New York.