French academic: ‘Number of adult baptisms has tripled since 2022'

Alexandra Maclennan is a French academic of English and South African descent, a practicing Catholic of the Diocese of Bayeux-Lisieux, and the author of a biography of Cardinal Owen McCann, South Africa’s first Cardinal. 

As Pope Leo XIV begins his Apostolic Journey to France, Dr. Maclennan sees signs of something new taking place in the French Church.

The number of adults being baptized has risen sharply in recent years: according to figures from the French Bishops’ Conference, 13,234 adults are expected to be baptized in 2026, compared with 4,278 in 2022. 

She believes this growth, together with increasing numbers of young people seeking baptism, points to a spiritual desire that cannot simply be explained as a post-pandemic phenomenon.

At the same time, she points to the pressures facing the Church: fewer priests, parish mergers, overstretched clergy and the need to find new ways of sustaining Catholic life.

The University of Caen Normandy Professor also reflects on Pope Leo’s popularity in France beyond the Catholic community, the emergence of a new generation of Gen Z Catholics, as well as the enduring devotion of French Catholics to the saints.

She also acknowledges the challenges posed by secularization and recent debates over end-of-life legislation, expressing her hope that the Pope’s visit will encourage new vocations and help the Church in France find “new creative inspiration” for a future of unity and healing.

She spoke to Vatican News about Pope Leo’s visit to France and what it means to the nation’s faithful.