England, France, Los Angeles see record number of baptisms

More than 10,000 adults were baptized in France this Easter, a 45% increase over the number of adults who entered the Church in 2023, and in England, dioceses recorded decades-high numbers of people who were either being baptized or being received into the Catholic Church.

In France, there were 10,384 adult baptisms on the Easter Vigil, said the website for the French Catholic Bishops Conference.

Additionally, there were 7,400 baptisms of children aged 11 to 17, said the French bishops.

These figures combined make for a massive increase over the number of people who joined the Church in 2023, and are the highest reported number of baptisms since 2002, the year the French bishops began taking a survey of catechumens.

The largest demographic of French adults set to be baptized was between the ages of 18 and 25, said the French bishops, a change from recent trends.

Previously, the "core target" of adult catechumens were people ages 26-40.

France is also seeing an increasing number of adults receive the other sacraments of initiation. This is a continuing trend that began in 2022, said the French bishops.

Last year, more than 9,000 French adults were confirmed at Pentecost, a figure that was double that of 2022.

The United Kingdom saw a similar increase in the number of adults, particularly young men, baptized this Easter season.

The Diocese of Westminster reported that there were 500 adults joining the Catholic Church this Easter. Of that number, about half were catechumens and will be baptized.

This number is 25% more than the number of adults who were received into the Church last Easter, said the Diocese of Westminster.

The Archdiocese of Southwark, which borders the Diocese of Westminster to the southeast, reported 450 adults received into the Church this Easter, the highest number in a decade.

Beyond Europe, reports from dioceses across the United States suggest that there's a similar trend afoot.

In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, more than 5,000 people were received into full communion with the Catholic Church during the Easter season.

This figure, Fr. Juan Ochoa, the director of the archdiocese's Office for Divine Worship, includes 2,800 people who had not previously been baptized.

“We usually see a 10% increase from the year before,” Ochoa told Catholic News Agency. “This year, it was about 45%. That’s significant.”

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest diocese in the United States, with 4.3 million Catholics.