Adult baptisms are multiplying in Europe and other countries. On Saturday night, during the Easter Vigil, the Easter candle illuminates the darkness to represent the victory of Christ over death, with his Resurrection. A Light and a joy sought by thousands of young people, who will receive the sacraments of Christian initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. France leads in baptisms in Europe.
"You made us, Lord, for You and our heart is restless until it rests in You." wrote St. Augustine in the 'Confessions'. That's what the young adults who will be baptized on Easter night this Saturday seem to be looking for.
17,800 baptisms in France, up by 45 %
In France alone, 10,384 adults and more than 7,400 adolescents aged 11 to 17 will be baptized. This brings to more than 17,800 the total number of catechumens to be baptized this year in the Gallic country, an increase of 45 % for adults compared to 2024.
The data correspond to 'Eglise catholique en FranceThe bishops are surprised by the number of requests for baptisms, because they exceed the record numbers collected last year. The bishops are surprised by the requests for baptism, because they exceed the record numbers collected last year.
The media assures that the data are the highest ever recorded since the French Bishops' Conference (CEF) created this survey more than twenty years ago (in 2002). In addition, a trend observed in last year's work has been confirmed. The growing proportion of young people among catechumens, who now constitute the majority.
In view of the demand, the publication has offered this Friday a work entitled What are the catéchumènes?The young people and adults come from the four corners of France and from different backgrounds. They have all embarked on a journey to discover the Christian faith".
"A Catechumenal Church".
More than 45,000 young people from France participated in World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, 50 % more than expected. Requests for adult baptism are increasing rapidly. How do you interpret these data," he asked a few days ago. Le PélerinArchbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, still president of the French Bishops' Conference (the Cardinal of Marseille, Jean-Marc Aveline, will be the new president).
In his response, the French archbishop pointed out that "young Catholics already involved in parishes and movements go to WYD. But "welcoming catechumens renews our Church. Those who ask for baptism, which we receive as a gift from God, represent a slightly different phenomenon. De-Christianization can translate into a renewed interest in religions. Some, at the age when personal choices are made, want to become Christians".
"More peaceful, capable of relationships with others."
"The catechumens who wrote to me last year before their baptism all said, in one way or another, that coming to Christ had pacified them, made them capable of different relationships with others. We have become a catechumenal Church, after having been a Church of family transmission. If young people come to us, it is to place their lives under the light of God", he adds.
Those in charge of Youth Ministry and Vocations Offices have described this trend of adult baptisms as "a massive phenomenon" that has been developing over the last few years and that "is growing steadily".
Belgium, upward trend
In a neighboring country, Belgium, the trend is also upward. Adult baptisms have doubled in ten years, although the figures are more discreetly disseminated. The Belgian Bishops' Conference has reported that 362 adult baptisms were recorded in 2024, which is almost double the figure of 186 adults recorded in 2014.
Although specific data for 2025 is not available, the growing trend in the number of adults seeking baptism suggests that this number is likely to continue to rise. By 2025 they could exceed five hundred, in a country where the number of people claiming to be Catholic is below 60 percent.
Young people in Edinburgh (Scotland): reaction to superficiality
"I had never thought about how deeply rooted in love and humanity the Catholic faith was," said Ilhan Alp Yilmaz, a 23-year-old Turkish student. He is one of 33 people, mostly young adults, from the parish of St James, St Andrews, in Edinburgh, Scotland, who were convert to Catholicism at Easter.
Ilhan says he was drawn to Catholicism by "a sincere feeling of gratitude for all that was in my life." He has enjoyed the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process at the parish. "Learning something new every week about the faith, enlivened ad nauseam by Msgr. Burke's wit."
Msgr. Patrick Burke, pastor of St James, commented, "I think (this) is happening because young people are aware of a certain superficiality in contemporary culture and are looking for deeper truth and meaning."
"They seek transcendence."
A recent survey commissioned by the Bible Society and conducted by YouGov discovered what many priests have noticed in recent years: more young adults are attending church.
"I think they are also looking for community and belonging and a recognition that much of what contemporary celebrity culture promises doesn't actually produce deep happiness," adds Msgr. Burke.
"When I was at St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, we were amazed at the number of young people who wanted to join RCIA." "The Catholic Church offers meaning, beauty, truth and transcendence...I think they are looking for transcendence."
"The courage of the young".
This Saturday, Archbishop Cushley will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass at 8:00 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he will 12 catechumens and 21 candidates will be received in full communion with the Catholic Church.
In his view, "the quiet courage of any young person who chooses faith is a sign that God is still at work in our world."
Other young people to be baptized this Saturday are Alexander Peris, 20, of St. James Parish group, a student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Or Jessica Hrycak, 19, of Milton Keynes, and from the same St. James parish.
Jessica Hrycak and Turkey's Ilhan Alp Ylmaz
Jessica Hrycak says, "I grew up in a Christian home, but it wasn't until college that I decided to take my religion more seriously. "My friends at Halls were always having religious debates at lunchtime, and that's how I started learning about Catholicism. "From there, I started going to Mass, as their conversations had drawn me to the Catholic Church."
The aforementioned lhan Alp Yilmaz, from Istanbul, notes, "My sister and I were raised irreligious, so my knowledge of any religion was quite scanty."
"I never considered how deeply rooted the Catholic faith was in love and humanity and was amazed that their beliefs were holistic and not a series of disconnected doctrines. I have enjoyed learning something new each week about the faith."
Getafe: 33 catechumens from several countries
A total of 33 catechumens, curiously as in Edinburgh, will receive the sacraments of Christian initiation in the Diocese of Getafe (Spain), at the Easter Vigil this Saturday. They will do so in the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene and in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the town of Madrid. The first will be presided over by the diocesan bishop, Msgr. Ginés García Beltrán, and the second by the auxiliary bishop, José María Avendaño.
The catechumens come from countries such as Congo, Peru, Morocco, Venezuela and Germany, as well as various parts of Spain. "These adults, ranging in age from 17 to 66," reports the diocese, "have gone through a long and deep formation process."
The catechumens have learned and lived the Christian faith, following the Ritual of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Among them are Irene Casado, a young teacher from the Arenales School in Arroyomolinos, and Lorena Millán, from the parish of Santos Justo y Pastor in Parla. One of the catechists, Carmen Iglesias, says that this celebration is a great joy: "To see how the Lord calls and touches their hearts at a moment in their lives, and calls them to Baptism, is a joy".
Madrid, Barcelona
Also in the cathedral of La Almudena, Madrid, there will be several adults who will receive the sacraments of Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, in a ceremony presided over by Cardinal José Cobo. The archdiocese has counted, for example, the history of Jorge (40 years old) and Laura (36 years old), his wife, of the parish of Las Tablaswhere they were married ten years ago.
"Theirs was a marriage with a disparity of worship because Jorge was not baptized. Laura knew how to respect him. Some people get baptized because they are getting married, but I didn't want that for Jorge. And so, he has had time to make his own love story with God, which he has been able to share with his family. will culminate in the Easter Vigil at the Almudena Cathedral.on Holy Saturday, April 19'.
In Barcelona there will also be catechumens who will receive the sacraments of Christian initiation, after a preparation led by Auxiliary Bishop David Abadías. According to Mn. Felip Juli Rodríguez Piñel, head of the Diocesan Service for the Catechumenate, the catechesis have been carried out monthly and are given by the bishop. "The bishop is the first person responsible for the catechumenate and it is important that the catechumens receive their catechesis," he stressed.
Argüello: the human heart, in permanent quest
The then secretary general of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, now president, Archbishop Luis Argüello, stated in June 2022 that "there is certainly an increase in the number of adult baptisms".
"Adult baptism is occurring for various reasons," Arguëllo added. "The first is that there are people who in relation to other believers express their desire to know and share the faith (...) "The human heart," he continued, "is a restless heart that is always in permanent search. There are people who rediscover that Jesus Christ, and his Gospel, is a good proposal to live and want to live it with others in a company that is the Church".
On the other hand, the Bishops' Conference itself announced in 2023 that, according to the data for 2022, there had been a increase in baptisms.
Malaysia, more than two thousand
Proof of this restlessness of heart are, to cite just one Asian country, the more than 2,000 young people and adults baptized at the Easter Vigil in Malaysia: 1,047 new baptized in Peninsular Malaysia and an equivalent number in Malaysian Borneo, reports the Fides Agency.
Canada perceives the same phenomenon
In various regions of Canada, marked by increasing secularization, hopeful signs of a Catholic revival are also beginning to emerge. In Nanaimo, British Columbia, Father Harrison Ayre, pastor of St. Peter's, has seen Mass attendance go from 650 people at the beginning of 2024 to 1,100 in just a few months. In addition to the increase in the number of faithful, youth participation and the number of adult catechumens have grown. One of the biggest surprises was a recent Lenten confession day, when 225 people came to be reconciled over 12 uninterrupted hours. "I think it will be one of those days that I will keep in my memory as a priest. I felt a great satisfaction," said Ayre.
At the Ukrainian Catholic Shrine of St. John the Baptist in Ottawa, Deacon Andrew Bennett observes a similar phenomenon: the number of young people attending Saturday vespers has doubled in the last five years, from 30 to between 60 and 70 people each week. Meanwhile, in Montreal, the revival of the traditional Palm Saturday Walk after the pandemic lull has exceeded all expectations: from 750 participants in 2023, it has grown to nearly 4,000 in 2024. These outbreaks of vitality in cities such as Nanaimo, considered the most secular in Canada, reflect a new openness to faith, especially among young people.
