In the midst of so much gloom and decline – economic, cultural, religious – one figure surprises and delights: the number of catechumens, that is to say adults preparing for baptism in the Catholic Church, has increased in our country, in 2024, by 30% compared to 2023. Thus 7,135 adults and more than 5,000 middle and high school students are about to be baptized, on Easter night or in the weeks that follow. Certainly, this figure partly reflects the drop in the number of children baptized at birth and consequently the increase in those who are only baptized later.
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It is not enough to stem the digital and cultural erasure of the mass Catholicism of the past. Furthermore, the spiritual health of a nation is not primarily measured statistically. But, in any case, this growth, in many respects surprising, constitutes a real sign for our society, for believers and non-believers alike.
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If this growth is a…
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