PARIS — Pope Leo XIV met new and prospective Catholics and their leaders on Saturday as he encouraged the Catholic Church in France to "strike a wise balance" between welcoming new members as they are and educating them in the tenets of the faith.
"It may seem paradoxical that this phenomenon … is taking place against the backdrop of a society like that of France, which is marked by a deeply secularized culture," the pope said at the Catholic Institute of Paris on Sept. 26.
According to France's national demographic institute, more than half of French adults report no religious affiliation. While 29% of the population identifies as Catholic, the survey found only 8% say they go to Church regularly.
Despite this, the Catholic Church continues to see record-breaking numbers of baptisms every year. In 2026, France recorded more than 20,000 adult and adolescent baptisms, a 20% increase from the already record-high number in 2025, which saw a 45% increase from 2024 figures.
The pope said people approach the Church for a variety of reasons, from a search for meaning to personal hardship.
The Church must welcome newcomers while helping them embrace the demands of Christian life, he said.
Leo visited the Catholic university hall where the new Provincial Ecclesial Assembly of Île-de-France will hold its three sessions beginning in mid-October.
Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris said in his welcoming remarks that more than 350 people from eight dioceses of the Province of Paris and the Military Ordinariate will meet for a synodal discussion on "Catechumens and Neophytes: New Perspectives for the Life of Our Church in Our Dioceses."
Ulrich noted that 45,000 people responded in the assembly's consultation phase.
"This renewed request for the sacraments of Christian initiation has come as a surprise to us, and we see in it the work of the Lord," the archbishop said.
Leo said the increase in baptisms should be welcomed as the work of the Holy Spirit.
Calling the sustained growth in conversions "God's surprising work," Leo encouraged the Church in Paris to ask where the Holy Spirit is leading them with regard to accompanying new Catholics and seekers.
He told catechumens and newly baptized Catholics that they represented hope for the future of the Church in France.
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New Catholic 22-year-old Loïs Barbichon told EWTN News that he came to faith during the COVID-19 pandemic, "largely through reading."
"I felt kind of an inner impulse, a desire to be baptized and to learn more." He was baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2023, and now he accompanies other young people entering the Church.
"Now the goal is to ensure that each newly baptized person finds a mission so that they do not feel abandoned by the community but rather find their place within it," he said. "Today, I am mainly involved in the Scripture readings at Mass, and I am very happy about that."
About Pope Leo's visit to France, Barbichon, who is studying history, heritage, and museum studies, said "it is very important that he be able to speak to young people."
Sister Christine Kohler will participate in the assembly as a representative of men and women religious in France.
She is superior general of the Little Sisters of the Gospel and lives in the Diocese of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris sometimes described as a "quartier sensibile" (vulnerable neighborhood).
"At Easter, we baptized 20 people during the Easter Vigil in a single parish in the Diocese of Saint-Denis," she told EWTN News. "I think there were more than 500 in total across the diocese. This is something that raises many questions for us. How is it that adults and teenagers, sometimes 18 years old and sometimes 70, are saying, 'I would like to become a Christian?'"
Kohler said many newcomers arrive after asking questions about meaning, suffering, and God.
One change the sister has seen in France in the last 15 years is a greater missionary impulse among local Catholics.
"It is no longer simply: 'I live my faith and I live it within my parish.' There is now this desire to share it, to become missionary disciples … this desire to bear witness and to say, 'This is what gives us life.'"
She said she hoped the assembly would help the Church become more welcoming to newcomers.
In her opinion, the pope's presence Saturday morning may have arisen not only from a desire to encourage the synodal assembly but also to listen and understand more about the "people who are questioning, searching, and wanting to become Christians."
During the event, a catechumen (baptized but not yet confirmed), a new Catholic, and a director of Christian initiation spoke about their experiences to Pope Leo.
New Catholic Marielle described the challenge of finding one's place in the community after formally entering the Church. A young man, Jaoide, shared about the winding path he took to get to his baptism last year. He said his journey began when he read both the Quran and the New Testament.
"I was struck by the figure of Jesus," he said, "above all, by his determination to show us the example through his life and through the trials he endured to the very end."
