Portugal Colonial - 'Helps me cope': Catholic baptisms rise among French youth

Some 600 Mass-goers pack the creaking pews in hushed silence, waiting to welcome the business school student into Notre-Dame church in the small town of Maurepas, southwest of the capital.

The doors swing open, and Bounlay walks down the aisle alongside his sponsor, an elderly man who barely reaches his shoulder.

"What do you ask of God's Church?" the deacon asks.

"Faith," Bounlay replies.

Bounlay is among a growing number of youth committing to a two-year path to Catholic baptism in France, bucking a broader decline in religious influence in an increasingly secular country.

The trend has caught the Vatican's attention, with Pope Leo XIV set to meet such young people during his official visit to France beginning on Friday.

Despite a sharp drop in infant baptisms, some 13,200 adults and 8,200 adolescents aged 11 to 17 are expected to be baptised in 2026 -- increases of 28 percent and 10 percent respectively from the previous year, according to the Catholic Church in France.

A friend of Bounlay, who grew up in a Buddhist family though with a Catholic mother, encouraged him to go to Mass after he began to grapple with questions about life after death.

Bounlay told AFP his newfound faith had given him "hope and comfort".

"At times when I might feel anxious or afraid, it really helps me cope with it all," he said.

- 'Searching for meaning' -

There is no single reason to explain why young people are turning towards religion, said Charles Mercier, a historian and a director at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, a postgraduate learning institution.

Many describe having spiritual experiences, while others are drawn by "bereavement, a break-up or failure... and worries about a future that seems bleaker than it did for previous generations", he said.

That uncertainty resonates with Lucie De Almeida, a 24-year-old marketing student whose parents left it up to her to decide whether to be baptised.

"The world today is quite a sad place," she said, before hopping onto her electric scooter in the church carpark.

"Having a guiding presence makes it easier to survive in this world. We're a generation of young people searching for meaning."

De Almeida was already reading the Bible when she began seeing Catholic content on social media, including videos by priests.

"There's a lot on American TikTok and Instagram -- less so on the French versions -- with young people making videos explaining the Gospel," she said.

- A wider decline -

The proportion of French people describing themselves as Catholic has fallen from 85 percent in the 1960s to 46 percent in recent years, according to a 2025 survey published by La Croix newspaper.

Mercier, who specialises in the history of global Catholicism, said the increase in young people turning to the religion was a positive sign for the Church -- but should not necessarily be seen as a dramatic turnaround.

"It's a choice of conviction, which seems much stronger than simply being baptised as a baby," he said.

But it "doesn't make up for the decline in the number of children being baptised, or the deaths of elderly Catholics", he added.

Only 150,000 babies were baptised in France in 2024, compared with more than double in 2000, according to the French bishops' conference.

Some aspiring converts, however, plan to raise their children differently.

Loic Michel, a 31-year-old health and safety officer, grew up in a Christian but non-practising family. He plans to have his children baptised, including his infant son.

"I'd like him to be christened next year, the same as me," Michel said.

- 'A joy'-

Denis Barral, 63, who accompanies adults during the roughly two years of preparation for baptism, said the influx has been "a joy" to witness.

"Just a few years ago, a parish like this would have one or two catechumens a year," he said, using a technical term for people who train for baptism.

"Now, we're celebrating around 20 baptisms a year," he said, adding most of the adults in the programme are aged between 18 and 30.

Barral said he could not wait for next Easter, when the 19 new converts will be fully immersed in a pool for their baptisms.

Bounlay still has months of preparation ahead.

But on Sunday, three knocks on the church door marked a major milestone towards that moment.

"It's the start of a great journey," he said.

C.Cassis--PC