In a deeply secular France, a new trend is emerging. At Easter 2026, more than 21,000 people were baptized.
This gathering took place at the Catholic Institute of France, which was turned into a prison for priests during the French Revolution. Around 115 religious figures and bishops were killed.
The growing number of catechumens is forcing the French Church to rethink how it accompanies people who are coming to the faith.
JAOID
I started reading sacred books: the Quran and then the New Testament. As I read the latter, I was moved by Jesus, his teachings, the way he explained things through parables and, above all, his determination to set an example through his life.
His story reflects one of the challenges the pope addresses as the universal pastor.
POPE LEO XIV
Your experience and testimony, dear catechumens and neophytes, are a tangible sign of God’s grace at work, beyond statistical and sociological analysis. This phenomenon, which challenges any defeatist attitude, what Pope Francis called “sterile pessimism,” must be welcomed with a sense of responsibility.
Once neophytes become part of the Catholic family, a clear question emerges: How can the Church prevent the post-baptismal void?
POPE LEO XIV
Neophytes are not called simply to receive: their faith is a treasure offered to the Church in France and to the universal Church. I think of what happened to one of the most famous catechumens in history, Saint Augustine. He was initiated into the faith by Saint Ambrose, and when he was baptized, his faith was nothing more than a small seed. But that seed grew and multiplied, becoming a tree so large that even today, under its branches, we can find comfort.
That is one of the key messages of the gathering: new believers can help those already in the Church renew their own faith.
And with Saint Augustine as his example, the pope reminds them that someone who begins as a catechumen can one day become a tree whose shade offers shelter to the Church.
