After 60 years of continuous decline, French Catholicism is experiencing a notable if modest rebound in adult baptisms, though only time will reveal whether it represents lasting change or another fleeting “flux” in French Catholicism’s cyclical history, writes historian Guillaume Cuchet in the journal Etudes (January). While the rise from 4,468 baptisms in 2020 to 10,000 in 2025, with 42 percent of those baptized at Easter 2025 being aged 18–25, was reported by many media, Cuchet urges prudence in interpreting this trend. The movement is recent, possibly triggered by Covid-19 (which he thinks functioned as a “detonator” returning people to essentials) or the 2019 Notre-Dame fire. France has seen similar “rebounds” before that ultimately failed to reverse statistical decline. There’s a significant “evaporation rate” among neophytes, as new converts lack supporting social structures like families, communities, or local traditions.
Cuchet ventures that the phenomenon may reflect a broader religious revival among youth benefiting all faiths, advising that comparisons with conversions to Islam and evangelical Protestantism be conducted. He identifies three main explanatory factors for the increase in adult Catholic baptisms—which by far do not compensate for the massive prior decline in infant baptisms. Among people of Catholic descent, but unbaptized, there is a phenomenon of spiritual re-rooting, characterized by a quest for values, culture, tradition, and lineage. Extra-European Christian immigration brings new energy and diversifies the Church’s image beyond its bourgeois associations. And Islam’s growing presence creates at the same time an identitarian Christian reaction and a mimetic emulation of Islamic fervor among some youth.
(Etudes, https://www.revue-etudes.com/)
