{"id":16921,"date":"2026-08-03T10:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T10:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16921"},"modified":"2026-08-03T02:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:36:04","slug":"a-look-at-the-large-rise-in-adult-catholic-conversions-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16921","title":{"rendered":"A look at the large rise in adult Catholic conversions in France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Very similar to what’s going on in the U.S. FULL DISCLOSURE:<\/strong> I am the OCIA coordinator in my parish and we have had similar experience in the past five years, since I started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to my good buddy AB for sending me this. I have excerpted what I think are the key points; hit the link for the full article. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The steady rise in adult Catholic converts across the West over the past five years has made headlines and given hope to the faithful. Nowhere has this caused a bigger stir than in France, the first-born daughter of the Church<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, most of the attention has been on the numbers. According to the French Bishops\u2019 Conference, adult and adolescent converts to Catholicism remained steady at between 4-5,000 per year since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Then shortly after Covid, those numbers began to rise steadily, reaching 5,825 in 2022, 8,416 in 2023, 12,340 in 2024, 17,788 in 2025, and finally 21,386 at Easter 2026\u2014a stunning 400% increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although impressive, these converts are still dwarfed by the massive numbers of those who leave the Church. The percentage of French people who identified as Catholics fell from more than 90% in the sixties to just 30% today. In the seventies, more than three-fourths of French babies were baptized in the Catholic Church, compared to 50% in 1996 and just 25% in 2024. Similar declines can be found in the other sacraments, such as marriage, Confirmation<\/a>, and First Holy Communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a deeper look at the motivations and spirituality of these conversions …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey asked the following question: \u201cWhat was the main reason why you asked for baptism?\u201d The most popular response (40%) was \u201cI experienced a hardship (illness, funeral, etc.) that began a search for meaning.\u201d This was followed by \u201cI began to ask questions about the Catholic religion\u201d (34%), \u201cI had a strong spiritual experience\u201d (32%), and \u201cI visited a religious place and was touched by its beauty\u201d (23%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly low on the list was direct apostolate of another person, such as the \u201cChristian witness of a friend or family member\u201d (19%), \u201cSomeone close to me requested baptism\u201d (16%), or \u201cI followed influencers on social media\u201d (11%). Any conversion requires above all the grace of the Holy Spirit. But conversions to the Catholic Faith\u2014especially on a large scale\u2014have almost always happened through human means, such as through missionary priests doing direct apostolate with the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wave of conversions has taken place with virtually no direct role of the French clergy. The Holy Spirit, it seems, is acting in souls outside the traditional human channels. The clergy, for their part, have been quick to admit that they had very little to do with attracting these converts. The report\u2019s author, Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon, explained<\/a>, \u201c This phenomenon continues to amaze us because we don\u2019t claim to have a single answer to explain it\u2026 Many young people tell me they have felt an \u2018inner calling\u2019 or had a powerful \u2018spiritual experience,\u2019 an unexpected \u2018encounter with God.\u2019 It\u2019s as if technological progress hasn\u2019t lived up to its promises. It creates an inner void and leads to a great deal of dissatisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This deep dissatisfaction with the false promises of modernity is a common thread that runs through these conversions. The catechumens have a spiritual thirst for Catholicism, he believes, because the Catholic Faith is no longer as taboo as it once was. Young people who have been raised without any religious education whatsoever will knock on the rectory doors with an open mind and without prejudice. He believes they are looking for \u201can identity that isn\u2019t identitarian\u201d and sees the Church as \u201ca solid institution with deep roots that someone can rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

**************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Mercier, professor of contemporary history at the University of Bordeaux, observes that until about 20 years ago, new converts would generally join more charismatic movements inside the Church. Today, they tend to be much more conservative …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Very similar to what’s going on in the U.S. FULL DISCLOSURE: I am the OCIA coordinator in my parish and we have had similar experience in the past five years, since I started. Thanks to my good buddy AB for sending me this. I have excerpted what I think are the key points; hit the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10,7,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-stuff","category-consistent-ethic-of-life","category-family-stuff","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16925,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16921\/revisions\/16925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}