A Gallup poll found that 42% of young men in the United States now say religion is "very important" in their lives, a 14-percentage-point rise from the prior year. Catholic leaders across the country have reported sharp increases in adult converts alongside that shift. Actor David Henrie, who played Justin Russo on Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place," has been watching the same movement from his own parish pew and is directing a portion of his current work toward that audience.
The mechanism Henrie identifies is an absence rather than a presence. Young adults, he says, find the secular world empty and begin looking elsewhere. He was among that cohort himself before converting. The phrase he reaches for is "Lord of the Rings Catholicism," which in his usage describes the bells, incense, and ancient liturgical forms that older high-church practice has preserved. The Latin mass, he told Fox News Digital, is drawing young attendees specifically. They are tired of the world, he says.
Where the production slate sits
Henrie recently wrapped filming on "Seeking Beauty," a faith-based travel series produced for EWTN+, and is returning to Disney for "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place." Those projects share a calendar this fall with a children's picture book. "Is God Bigger Than a Dragon?," co-written with his wife Maria and published by Ascension Press, is targeted at ages two through eight, is available for preorder, and is scheduled for release on November 10.
The book originated with his young son's habit of asking scalar questions about God: bigger than a dragon, bigger than New York City, bigger than a killer whale. Henrie said those questions kept coming until writing the book became the obvious answer. Each page pairs a rhyming response with a Scripture reference, and the book closes by directing parents back to those same verses. He and his wife see instilling faith early as a priority. He is expecting his fourth child this month.