Across the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown's six-county coverage, nearly 300 men, women and children are set to become members of the Catholic church.

The Diocese said in a release that 143 people "will receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist" during the April 4th Easter Vigil; another 139 have already been baptized in other Christian traditions and are set to make a profession of faith and receive the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist.

In total, 282 Valley residents will be officially joining the Catholic faith by Easter and those individuals lined the pews of St. Columba Cathedral Sunday during the annual rite of election.

According to the Diocese, this year marks an increase of over 90 more people than last year. Over the past several months, all 282 people have been participating in the "Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, a process through which they become familiar with the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Catholic way of life," the Diocese said.

 During the ceremony, candidates were presented to Bishop Bonnar and any who had not been baptized were.

Bishop David Bonnar said he is overjoyed by the jump in the number of candidates.

"The large numbers we had, this is just record breaking at least in my time. I came here five years ago just on the edge of the pandemic and we did this in two locations, and it wasn't anything like this," the diocesan leader explained.

Potentially sign of good things to come amid recent consolidation in the diocese which saw long-standing churches merging. A result of declining attendance and a priest shortage.

"Those realities of mergers and closures. They're distractions at times. They can pull us away but they're also opportunities," said Bishop Bonnar.

Bishop Bonnar says the diocese is in the process of initiative involving the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ amid a rise in artificial intelligence.

"Artificial intelligence can do amazing things, it thinks, it's full of information and data but it doesn't have a heart," said Bonnar, adding that for close to 300 new members, their hearts were moved.