Sometimes as a Catholic single it might feel like finding someone with the same religious beliefs as you makes things harder by shrinking the dating pool. However, we think it’s the exact opposite! When you know what you want, it helps you to eliminate the men or women who aren’t going to be a great fit. Remember, you’re not trying to date a thousand people, you’re trying to date one.
But even so, how do you go about finding that one person who is smart, funny, in your desired age bracket, and shares in your Catholic beliefs? One of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is through Catholic dating apps. Technology helps put you in front of tons of high-quality Catholic singles in a way that makes it easy to find what you want and make a connection without having to muster up a truck load of courage.
In this article, our team is going to share our top picks for the best Catholic dating sites and apps out there. Additionally, we’ll share some information, resources, and tips to help you succeed with dating online as a Catholic single.
Top 6 Catholic Dating Apps
| Rank | Site | Free Trial Link | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Higher Bond | Free Trial |  |
| #2 | eHarmony | Free Trial |  |
| #3 | Catholic Match | Free Trial |  |
| #4 | Christian Mingle | Free Trial |  |
| #5 | Elite Singles | Free Trial |  |
| #6 | Zoosk | Free Trial |  |
Table of Contents:
- 4 Reasons We Love These Catholic Dating Apps
- Other Niche Catholic Dating Apps
- Catholic Dating in the United States
- Catholic Dating App FAQ
4 Reasons We Love These Catholic Dating Apps
With online dating, you have a lot of options. And even when you’re looking specifically for Catholic dating, you have a ton of options. Why? Well for starters, there are over 70 million Catholics in the US and 1.33 billion Catholics in the world! For a “niche”, this is a pretty dang big one, which means a lot of dating app companies are going to be looking to serve your needs.
So, how do we go about selecting the best of the best? What criteria must we see to select something as one of the best Catholic dating apps? While we don’t have time to share all the reasons, here are five of the biggest.
1. Safe and Predominantly Wholesome Environments
Anytime you’re dating in a religious context, you probably have some concerns about the types of things you’ll see and the people you’ll run into. Heck, even if you weren’t looking for Catholic singles, you might want the same thing! It just becomes more important when more people’s morals may have an impact. This is why we make sure the best Catholic dating sites are the ones that promote a safe and wholesome environment. They can’t protect you from everything, but if they’re not doing a great job of trying, it’s not a good option.
2. Support From the Catholic Church and Its Leadership
For mainstream dating apps that service Catholic singles, you won’t be able to get this (which is okay). However, when it comes to Catholic-only options, we like to see that they’ve consulted with the Church. We don’t need a signature of approval from the Pope, but it’s nice to see a nod of approval from some leading figures in the Catholic community.
3. More Options than at Mass
For many Catholic singles, outside of online dating, Mass is the only spot you have to look for love. For that reason, an online dating app better have more options (and similar or higher quality options) than you’re seeing at church! Otherwise, what’s the point of investing time and resources?
4. Advanced Search Features
What you may have noticed is that a lot of our recommendations are more mainstream dating apps that serve all religions and even the secular community. As we’ll explain later, this is on purpose. But with that comes the importance of having features and search functionality to filter through and find the Catholic men and women you’re looking to meet.
The Editor’s Picks for Best Catholic App
“For me, this one was a tie between Catholic Match and eHarmony. I love Catholic Match because it’s 100% laser-focused on Catholic singles while still having a good volume of singles. But I’ve always been partial to eHarmony, especially when you’re looking for a serious relationship or marriage. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of the apps on this list, especially those two.”
– Jason Lee, Chief Editor of Best Online Dating
“Catholic Match is the winner for me when it comes to the best dating apps for Catholic singles. It’s mainly because the app is easy to use, very reasonably priced, and has a good track record in the industry.”
– Christina Anne, Contributing Writer
“Something I really liked while reviewing these apps was that Catholic Match is backed by prominent members of the church community. If you’re at all worried about keeping your faith in the foreground during the online dating process, this has to be uplifting news. As for my favorite, it’s a toss up between all three. I don’t like being indecisive, but I really like them all.”
– Linda Morris, Associate Reviews Editor
Other Niche Catholic Dating Apps
We already touched on Catholic Match in our best of listings as one Catholic-only niche dating app. But is that the only one? It’s not! There are several other sites out there that are 100% dedicate to this particular religion. Are all of them great? Not really. But in the spirit of completeness, we wanted to share them with you and at least give a quick review of our thoughts on each option.
- Catholic Chemistry – There’s quite a bit to be happy about with this site. The website looks great, it’s backed by leaders in the Catholic Community, and it was developed by actual Catholics. Our only concern has to do with the size of the userbase. While we don’t have numbers, our internal metrics lead us to believe that this site has some growth to do before it becomes a real viable option in the industry. Still, it’s on our radar and we like what we see so far.
- Catholic Singles – On it’s own, Catholic Singles looks to be a nice site focused on the right things. But what’s interesting is the site was recently purchased by Catholic Match (one of the options on our best of list). We’re not sure yet if their plans are to combine the two sites or operate them independently, but that decision will weigh heavily on whether they stay down on this list or up on the best of list.
- Update: It looks like Catholic Match has announced that accounts from here can now be migrated to the Catholic Match platform.
- Ave Maria Singles – Something we really like about Ave Maria Singles is the site is heavily dedicated towards finding marriage. And also, the overall look and feel of the site looks great. The one area that we have some concerns (and why they didn’t make our list of the best Catholic dating apps) is because of size. While we don’t see any public numbers about the size of their membership base, our indicators point to the site probably being quite small—potentially too small. This could be an option to consider if nothing else works out, but it wouldn’t be our first stop.
- Catholic Friends Date – Often, we have to guess if certain options for Catholic singles are outdated or potentially a security risk. Thankfully, Catholic Friends Date makes that pretty easy for us to figure out. The homepage looks like it’s straight out of the 1990s (and not in a good way), and there is no encryption used on the site at all. These are big red flags for us and reasons that this site won’t make our list of the best Catholic dating options without a major overhaul and some serious security work.
- Catholic Mates – Much like Catholic Friends Date, Catholic Mates looks to be stuck in the past. What we really weren’t fans of is that they show real member photos and profiles to the general public. This really isn’t great when it comes to privacy and security. Sure, anyone can join any site and see you, but those are a lot of hoops to jump through. This one is an easy no from us.
Catholic Dating in the United States
As online dating grows in popularity amongst secular singles and Catholic singles, there’s always a lot of questions. One of the biggest amongst Catholic singles is—what is dating online like for Catholics? And particularly, this question is often asked by those in the US. While it’s hard to encompass everything you might see on the scene, there are some things we can share to get you more informed.
Here are a few interesting and helpful takeaways on Catholic dating online and in-person in the United States.
- There are 70,412,021 Catholics in the US according the Official Catholic Directory (2016). According to 2018 research from the Pew Research Center, that number is closer to 51 million. It’s safe to assume that the actual number is somewhere within that range or a little higher, depending on growth. However, research shows that more Catholics have switched religions to something else than any other religion in the US over the past few years.
- Many Christian dating apps also offer service to Catholic singles. Regardless of where you stand on the debate on if Catholicism is under the realm of Christianity, these still may be viable options for you to at least search for singles in your area.
- By percentage of residents, many of the states in the northeast have the highest percentage of Catholic residents (and therefore, most likely also Catholic singles). Rhode Island leads with 42%, followed by Massachusetts at 34%, and then New Jersey also at 34%. New Mexico is a close 4th also just notching over the 34% mark.
- The overall stance of the Catholic Church on online dating is quite positive. More and more we’re reading statements, quotes, and letters in support of using technology to find a Sacramental marriage. There may still be some older people in some churches that are slow to adopt and who may never get there. Regardless, we’ve seen high-level Church leaders onboard with the idea with full support.
Catholic Dating App FAQ
What is the best Catholic dating app?
The best dating apps for Catholic singles are eHarmony, Catholic Match, and Christian Mingle. These apps are either fully dedicated to Catholic singles or have extensive search filters to allow you to turn a top-notch mainstream app into an option for laser-focused religious dating.
Should Catholic singles use online dating?
There is no real difference between online dating and real-world dating. Online is just a place, like the library, school, or anywhere else. So, if you and your personal beliefs allow you to date in general, then you are all set to date online. The most important thing is to maintain your morals and beliefs through dating and don’t let the prospect of “love” change your core values.
Are people at my church going to look down on me for using Catholic dating apps?
According to polls from multiple sources, religious individuals judge more on the type of dating app you use versus judging you for online dating in general. The consensus seemed to be that hookup sites are frowned upon, but dating apps for Catholic singles focus on marriage, which is fine.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that your relationship goals and dating history is nobody else’s business. If you are worried about judgmental people, you don’t need to share your dating journey with them.
Will I see people from my church online?
The likelihood of matching with a member of your own church varies based on your search criteria. If you opt for singles in your exact town, you are probably more likely to run onto familiar faces. Instead, you can broaden your search to areas outside your town to try to avoid acquaintances.
If you do meet a familiar face on a dating app for Catholic singles, don’t feel embarrassed. After all, they are there for the exact same reason as you.
Where can I meet Catholic singles?
There are a lot of places you can meet Catholic singles. You might try your church, a local religious event or convention, concerts, the library, even the grocery store! The problem with meeting singles in the real world is you don’t know about their religion and other important factors up front.
Our preference is to use a dating app for Catholic singles. This allows you to meet people you already know share your faith, beliefs, and relationship intentions.
Is it safe to use Catholic dating sites?
Yes, it is safe to use Catholic dating sites. The only caveat to that is that you need to stick to trusted app options and you need to uphold your end of the safety bargain (not doing anything to jeopardize your safety). Together, you can have an amazing online dating experience with other likeminded Catholic singles.
Written By: Brandi Brown
Brandi Brown is a daytime copywriter and nighttime novelist. Her projects range from marketing content and commercial scripts all the way to narrative poetry and short fiction. Her debut novel, Bleached, is set to release in 2023.
✉Contact Brandi:[emailprotected]