According to an incredible report in America Magazine, over 12,000 people were baptized in France on Easter Sunday, reporting “personal” encounters with Christ. The massive wave of baptisms, totaling 7,135 adults and over 5,000 teens, came as something of a surprise in a country known for its atheism, with over half of the country saying it does not believe in God.
Despite that general background of atheism, this event was a smashing success with hugely increased levels of participation from 2023, with 31% more people overall being baptized and the number of young adults, those aged 18-25, shot up dramatically, going from 23% in 2023 to 36% in 2024.
Commenting to America Magazine, Fother Vincent Breynaert, the director of the National Youth and Vocations Service, said, “In today’s French society, 80% of young people have not received any religious education.” He continued, “They have very few preconceived ideas about the Church. What those asking for baptism have in common is that they had a spiritual experience and a personal encounter with Christ.”
Continuing, Father Breynaert went on to add, “Some say they were touched by the beauty of a liturgy (they happened to attend), the soothing silence of a church, a testimony of a friend.” Continuing, he explained, “They are thirsty for formation, reference points, fraternity and a sense of belonging.”
He wasn’t the only one. Bishop Olivier Leborgne of Arras, the president of the Council for Catechesis and the Catechumenate, spoke to America Magazine as well and said that the number of people asking to be baptized was “on a bewildering scale” this year. Continuing, he added, “it is very surprising to see the often totally unexpected path taken by those who ask to be baptized.” He added that the new converts “come with a lot of energy.”
Further, Bishop Leborgne explained that as the world gets crazier and crazier and changes as a rapid clip, people are following Christ as Jesus takes “the lead,” saying, “In a rapidly changing world, often disorientated, and a Church that is no less so, it could be that the Lord has decided to take the lead.”
Jean-Yves Lépine, a convert who was baptized in 2023 in the Diocese of Versailles, spoke about his decision to get baptized and why he sees so many people as wanting to be baptized. He said, “It is clearly the encounters.” Continuing, he explained that those powerful encounters include “attentive priests, a joyful and dynamic parish community. Through them, I discovered an open and welcoming Church, and extremely diverse!”
It remains to be seen if such things encourage a statistically important number of Frenchmen to leave behind their atheism and become baptized Christians, or if the movement will remain large compared to previous lows but still small overall in a country of tens of millions, as is now the case. Either way, it is hugely positive that so many people are coming to Christ.
Featured image credit: By Alberto Poggioli – Imported from 500px (archived version) by the Archive Team. (detail page), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71795870