Baptism France
Pope Leo’s pleasant surprise regarding France https://aleteia.org/2025/09/26/pope-leos-pleasant-surprise-regarding-france/ In a book-length interview published on September 18 in Spanish, Pope Leo XIV revealed that he had been particularly struck by the number of catechumens in France. In his first interview since his election, published in a book released on September 18 in Spanish, Leo XIV discusses many topics and reveals some of the directions his pontificate will take. But when he brought up a very specific subject — catechumens — he spoke of a specific country: France. In his answers in “Leo XIV, Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century,” Leo XIV specifically mentioned the situation of the Church in that country, referring to his audience on July 29 with 600 young catechumens — people seeking baptism — in France. He describes as "very interesting" the phenomenon of the rise of catechumens in a country “which for a period of time was considered one of the...