She sees it as a “fundamental trend”.
The Catholic Church has recorded a sharp increase in baptisms among adults (+ 31%) and adolescents (+ 50% on average) this year, according to a survey by the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) published on Wednesday.
The number of adults who will be baptized during Easter celebrations increased by 31% compared to last year with 7,135 “catechumens” (or applicants for baptism), according to this survey.
Four days before Easter, great joy to announce that the dioceses of France are recording a sharp increase in catechumens.
👉From +28% in 2023, this growth will cross the 30% threshold in 2024.
In total, 7,135 adults will be baptized at Easter this year, and more than 5,000… pic.twitter.com/Rbk7alhjR5
— Catholic Church in France (@Eglisecatho) March 27, 2024
“We really confirm last year's increase, which was 28%,” explained Catherine Chevalier, director of the national service for catechesis and catechumenate of the Conference of Bishops of France, at a press conference, dismissing the idea of a “rebound effect” after Covid: “it is not a matter of catching up but of an underlying trend”.
“Spiritual thirst”
If all age groups are progressing, the increase is especially marked among 18-25 year olds who now represent 36% of newly baptized people.
Among adolescents between 11 and 17 years old, the survey, less exhaustive, recorded 5,025 baptisms in 68 dioceses, an increase "of 50% on average", which illustrates according to the Church a "true spiritual thirst among young people ".
Also read Easter: why these adults are baptized
“Young people approach the question of faith in a more uninhibited way than previous generations,” according to Catherine Chevalier, who evokes “a need for fraternity, to build relationships.”
Welcoming this “vitality”, already illustrated by the presence of 45,000 young French people at the last WYD (World Youth Days) in Lisbon, the CEF highlights the challenge of support represented by these new “called up” in a society “where 80% of young people have not received religious education”.
The president of the CEF Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, who emphasizes that in his diocese of Reims the catechumens have increased from 20 to 73 in five years, also wonders in Christian Family: “Are our teams adapted to support so many world ?
If we look lucidly at our current system, at least in the province of Reims, the answer is no.
We will have to adjust our practices.”
As for the origin of the newcomers, the CEF observes among adults a “significant” increase in baptized people from families “without religion”, or a quarter of the total.
For comparison, the Catholic Church baptizes 65,000 babies each year (before one year) and a total of 220,000 people.