In record-breaking numbers, more than 17,800 catechumens will be baptised in France during the Easter Vigil on April 19, according to an annual survey by the French bishops’ conference’s National Service for Catechumens. Source: OSV News.
This number includes 10,384 adults and more than 7400 young people aged 11 to 17.
Adult baptisms have skyrocketed, observing a 45 per cent increase compared to the number in 2024.
Announced on Thursday, the figures are the highest since the creation of the survey that has recorded them each year since 2002.
It’s not a passing trend, but a real “dynamic,” said Lyon Archbishop Olivier de Germay, who is responsible for the catechumenate in France.
“Beyond the figures, which are already significant in themselves, it is a question of interpreting this sign from Heaven,” Archbishop de Germay wrote about the surge in a commentary published with the survey.
Within the last decade, the number of adults baptised at Easter has risen from 3900 in 2015 to 7135 in 2024, and then to 10,384 in 2025.
For Cécile Eon, national delegate for adult catechumenate, this increase is “impressive.”
“Requests are pouring in, and the teams must be reorganised,” she said at a Paris press conference on Thursday. “The proportion of catechumens aged 18 to 25 has increased, particularly since 2020. They are now the most numerous among adults.”
The 18- to 25-year-old group, made up of students and young professionals now represents 42 per cent of catechumens, and has surpassed the 26- to 40-year-old group, which until now represented the historical target group of adult catechumens, the French bishops’ conference said.
For Catherine Chevalier, national head of the Proclamation of the Faith and Accompaniment of the Christian Life office of the bishops’ conference, the reasons for this sharp increase are difficult to determine with precision.
“The somewhat anxiety-provoking societal context, with COVID-19 (pandemic) and the wars, is no doubt related,” she pointed out.
“Many are looking for reasons to hope within all this instability. But beyond these factors, all the catechumens demonstrate a very personal approach and a spiritual journey, which for some dates back to their childhood.”
FULLS TORY
France to see a record 17,800 catechumens baptised at Easter, with requests still ‘pouring in (By Caroline de Sury, OSV News)
