Record high in baptisms: What is the Church doing differently in France?

There is talk of a record: more than 12,000 people were baptised in France during this year's Easter Vigil. At first glance, this is a surprising number, especially as there is always talk of increasing secularisation, even "de-Christianisation", when it comes to the Church in France. However, the number of adult baptisms in France has been steadily increasing for around ten years, according to a recently published report by the French Bishops' Conference. This trend can be observed in almost all dioceses in France.

According to the Bishops' Conference, the newly baptised include 7,135 adults, 36 per cent of whom are aged between 18 and 25, and 5,000 young people aged between 11 and 17. Olivier Leborgne, Bishop of Arras and Chairman of the Commission for Catechesis and Catechumenate of the French Bishops' Conference, speaks of a "movement of bewildering proportions". "The number of people turning to the Church to receive baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist is not exactly small," says Leborgne. According to the bishop, it could be that "God is taking matters into his own hands" in view of today's sometimes disorientated and confused world and Church.

A kind of pent-up demand

It is a massive phenomenon that began in the past ten years and is growing steadily, says youth pastor Vincent Breynaert, head of the Office for Youth Pastoral Care and Vocations of the French Bishops' Conference, to katholisch.de. The phenomenon affects not only large cities, but also working-class towns and rural areas. According to Breynaert, there is no typical profile of young catechumens in terms of social origin and personal background. And further: "These young people are not primarily an expression of a search for identity, but of a genuine spiritual thirst and a search for meaning in a secularised society. Many cite testimonies of faith on the internet as motivation, others the beauty of the liturgy or the calming silence in a church".

However, Breynaert emphasises that some young people also have some catching up to do. "They regret their parents' decision not to have them baptised," says the youth pastor. For others, the testimony of their grandparents is crucial - "especially the simplicity with which they speak of God". Pope Francis had already expressed similar thoughts in his post-synodal letter to young people "Christus Vivit", published in 2019, when he said that grandparents make a decisive contribution with their religious upbringing.

Béatrice Schenckery, head of a catechumenate team in Evreux in Normandy, also confirms the value of grandparents on the path to faith. Many catechumens have told her that they learnt to pray from their grandparents, she told the French newspaper "La Croix". Another leader, Anne-Sophie Dubecq, told the newspaper that a common scenario is that the younger ones feel a certain bitterness because their older siblings were still baptised. "These young people say their parents gave them a free choice, but I sense in them a bitterness and a questioning of why their parents gave up a Christian upbringing," Dubecq said.

No special programme

But this alone cannot explain the baptism figures, especially among young people. What does the church in France do differently? While in other European countries the church no longer plays a role for most people after confirmation, the situation in France has been reversed, say those responsible. Both Bishop Leborgne and youth pastor Breynaert answer the question of whether there is a new, special programme for young people in the negative. Although the dioceses have increased their programmes for young people, the Catholic movements have also made a major contribution. These include the scouts with over 150,000 young people or the charismatic communities, which organise leisure activities such as holiday camps and trips to well-known places such as Taize or Lourdes in addition to spiritual activities. According to Breynaert, the latter are an opportunity for young people to talk to other young Christians about their faith.

Catherine Chevalier, Head of the National Service for Catechesis and Catechumenate of the Bishops' Conference, also emphasises the need for community, fraternity and relationships. "Young people are approaching the question of faith more openly than previous generations," says Chevalier. They want to belong and experience community, for others it is about rediscovering family faith. Still others cite encounters with friends, the liturgy or other church celebrations where they felt the desire to be baptised.

So it is not necessarily the "missionary endeavours" of the Church, as the Bishop of Limoges, Pierre-Antoine Bozo, said, but above all various encounters and events that led to this decision. For the future, youth pastor Breynaert knows that the reception and integration of the new catechumens will be an important task. "Their journey and their decision to become Christians are a challenge for their families and their friends at school. But they are also a challenge for the youth ministry and the parishes, which have to prepare for their reception and integration," continued the youth pastor. But it won't stop there, because we already know that the number of young people who will be baptised in 2025 "will undoubtedly be higher".