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More than 20,000 welcomed into Church
A file photo shows a catechumen being baptized during the Easter Vigil. According to a survey released March 25, 2026, by the French bishops' conference, over 20,000 catechumens in France are expected to be baptized during the Easter Vigil, marking a 20% increase compared to baptisms in 2025.
OSV News photo/James Ramos, Texas Catholic Herald
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OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz
Over 20,000 catechumens in France are expected to be baptized during the Easter Vigil, marking a 20% increase compared to baptisms in 2025.
According to an annual survey published by the French bishops' conference March 25, over 13,200 adults and over 8,100 adolescents will be baptized during the April 4 Easter Vigil.
The new figures mark a sustained increase in overall baptisms, particularly adults, compared to 2016, when just over 4,100 adults were baptized.
In a letter published with the survey, French Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon said the increased numbers "continue to surprise."
"While we have long sensed the difficulty—if not the inability—of our consumer society to respond to the deepest aspirations of the human person, we are nevertheless struck by the suddenness and the scale of the thirst for God that is being expressed today," Archbishop de Germay wrote.
However, he added, the Church's greatest challenge is "to accompany them over time, enabling them to become disciples, and thus full members of parish communities."
According to the report, 42% of adult catechumens are people between the ages of 18 to 25, and 40% are between 26-40, with women representing roughly 62% of candidates.
A survey conducted among 1,450 catechumens across 60 dioceses indicated that a majority of the catechumens—40%—were led to seek baptism due to personal hardships, such as illness or the death of a loved one. An estimated 34% sought baptism after learning more about Christianity, while 32% said they had "a strong spiritual experience."
Archbishop de Germay said that new initiatives across several dioceses are emerging in response "to this joyful new reality," such as organizing assemblies, services meant "to better accompany the newly baptized," as well as pilgrimages.
He also noted that such mobilization has a "boomerang effect," which also gives "veterans in Christian life" a chance "to revisit their faith and to become newly aware of how God can break into a life and transform it."
"For this is indeed the sign given to us today: the paths of the human person and of God are meant to meet," he wrote.
(Junno Arocho Esteves writes for OSV News from Malmö, Sweden.)
A version of this story appeared in the April 05, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "In France, record numbers baptized at Easter".
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