{"id":61637,"date":"2025-08-05T23:48:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T21:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=61637"},"modified":"2025-09-24T13:45:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:45:24","slug":"the-church-in-france-has-new-priorities-caring-for-converts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/08\/05\/the-church-in-france-has-new-priorities-caring-for-converts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church in France has new priorities: caring for converts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-127041\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/church_france.webp\" alt=\"chiesa francia \" width=\"623\" height=\"327\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><strong>Cardinal Aveline<\/strong> stresses that <strong>pastoral care for the newly baptized<\/strong> is a national priority for the Church in France. This past Easter, over <strong>10,000 adults<\/strong> received baptism.<\/i><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Over <strong>10,000 adults<\/strong> baptized in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These are the record-breaking figures for the <strong><mark>Church in France<\/strong><\/mark>, in the historical heartland of secularism.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is hardly surprising that <strong>Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline<\/strong>, Archbishop of Marseille and recently appointed president of the French Bishops\u2019 Conference, has pointed out that the rising number of people joining the Church makes <strong>a new pastoral priority<\/strong> essential.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h2>The Church in France and the conversion boom<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hence the growing concern to <strong>better accompany the journey<\/strong> of those coming to faith\u2014a matter identified as of <strong>national importance<\/strong> for the French Church.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A <strong>conversion boom<\/strong> that has been underway for at least three years: while up to 2022 the number of adults requesting baptism was around <strong>4,000<\/strong> annually, this Easter saw <strong>7,400 teenagers<\/strong> and <strong>10,384 adults<\/strong> baptized, most of them young people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The phenomenon is significant not only because of the number of new baptisms, but also because it demands <strong>a new approach<\/strong> to pastoral care: what was once seen as peripheral is now at the heart of the Church\u2019s mission in France.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h2>A renewed focus on the newly baptized<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The daily <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.la-croix.com\/religion\/bapteme-blues-ce-que-fait-l-eglise-de-france-pour-garder-les-nouveaux-baptises-20250723\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>La Croix<\/i><\/a><\/strong> highlights the <strong>numerous initiatives<\/strong> being launched in support of the newly baptized: Bible schools, catechism courses, and pilgrimages.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The <strong>Archdiocese of Lyon<\/strong>, for instance, has created small <strong>hybrid groups<\/strong> (8\u201310 people) including catechumens preparing for baptism, newly baptized adults, and long-time faithful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The influx <strong>of new faithful<\/strong>\u2014mostly young (42% are under 25)\u2014is reshaping the face of the Church in France.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i>\u201cParish life <strong>will change<\/strong> under the influence of the newly baptized, who can become <strong>a driving force<\/strong> of commitment, witness, prayer, and revitalization of local communities,\u201d<\/i> says <strong>Msgr. Olivier de Cagny<\/strong>, head of sacramental initiation for the French Bishops\u2019 Conference.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is a call for mature accompaniment, with <strong>no room for superficiality<\/strong>. Adults who receive baptism often carry with them needs, questions, and expectations that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Otherwise, there is the risk that <strong>initial enthusiasm<\/strong> (as in any honeymoon phase) will gradually lose momentum. Instead, each convert\u2019s path must become <strong>communal<\/strong>, supported by the community to ensure lasting growth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This shift was clearly visible during the <strong>2025 Youth Jubilee<\/strong>, when <strong>French teenagers<\/strong> <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/07\/22\/jubilee-of-youth-2025-the-french-outnumber-even-the-poles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gathered<\/a><\/em><\/strong> around the Holy Father in greater numbers than even their Polish counterparts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Card. Aveline highlights that the care of the newly baptized is now a national priority for the Church in France. 10,000 conversions in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":22,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1616,1617,1589],"class_list":["post-61637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-adult-baptisms-france","tag-church-in-france","tag-france-catholics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Church in France has new priorities: caring for converts - UCCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Card. 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