“We are witnessing a significant increase in the number of requests for baptism and entry into the catechumenate”, confirms the metropolitan archbishop of Tours, Monsignor Vincent Jordy. “This phenomenon can be found in all French dioceses, both in rural and urban areas”. How do you explain this phenomenon? «There seem to be several factors at stake. The former seems to be found in the general context of a destabilized world in which it is difficult to think about the future and find meaning. The Christian faith, the person of Jesus and the message of the Gospel throw an often new light for generations who have not received any transmission of the family faith. They are not marked by resentment towards the Church, but discover the novelty and freshness of the Gospel and Jesus. On the other hand, the Covid crisis, the experience of Lockdown, has shown that it is not enough to have hundreds of “friends” on social networks to have few real friends with whom to weave authentic meetings and draw support. Many young people are discovering the Church as an accessible and fraternal community that simply welcomes them as they are, as part of a family. In a world where freedom and gratuity are often jeopardized, young people are discovering a different community that wants the best for them and for their spiritual freedom. Some analysts add that those who have not received it in childhood come to ask for baptism. “
But in this regard, the metropolitan continues, it could be replicated that these catechumens could have done like other people and never ask for. “But here they are, and we are discovering how the Holy Spirit is working in their hearts and how a real encounter with Jesus can take place. When I listen to the testimonies, I notice that the Holy Spirit comes to touch them in a great variety of circumstances: an inner question that flows on the occasion of the death of a loved one, the memory of the prayer of a grandmother who testified his faith, the wisdom of a believer who was a believer who was a believer who was a believer who was a believer who was a believer who was a believer who was a believer practitioner, internet research to understand what religion is … the paths are different as people are, but what really strikes is that, as Pope Francis points out in the beginning of theEvangelii Gaudiuma meeting takes place with the living Jesus that we discover which source of joy. I also observed the surprising perseverance of some catechumens, who sometimes knocked several times at the door of a presbytery to finally find someone, or adolescents – students of the secondary school – who persevere despite the lack of support, or even irony, of those around them “. Secondo the Metropolitan of Tours deals with “sometimes very touching testimonies of young people who have not desisted and whose joy, now, is to evangelize, and sometimes their own parents end up being touched and asking for baptism or confirmation. Our diocese will send a hundred young people for the Jubilee to Rome. These are catechumens and neophytes. We are happy that they are discovering the universal dimension of the Church. But it is also up to us, after having accompanied them to baptism, continue to support them in the continuation of their journey ».
