“The number of baptisms is exploding”… These urban Christians who are awakening the Church of France

A stone’s throw from the mosque, the Saint-Jean-XXIII church in Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise) fills up quickly this 2nd Sunday of Advent. Wearing the flocked red “Paroisse de Sarcelles” vest identifying the reception service, Adeline helps latecomers find a place. Meanwhile, the West Indian choir sings the entrance song, punctuated by percussion. “I do it with joy. It’s a way of saying thank you to the Creator,” confides this grandmother who arrived from Congo three years ago. Then a religious silence seized the assembly during the rite of entry into the church of 17 new catechumens, called to renounce “adverse spiritual powers”.

This same Sunday, a similar vitality is evident in the Saint-Jean-XXIII parish in a working-class neighborhood of Chennevières-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). The Juvenus group, one of the three parish choirs, leads the assembly. The young choristers sing at the top of their lungs and sway from right to left, as one body. The liturgy is only one aspect of their commitment. These teenagers and young adults also sing in nursing homes and organize childcare during school holidays – among other services also open to Muslims and non-believers in the city. As in Sarcelles, catechumens flock to Chennevières: 15 are preparing for baptism, 10 for communion and confirmation.

In 2024, the so-called “priority” districts of urban policy – ​​those where average incomes are the lowest – had 5.3 million inhabitants, or 8% of the French population, according to INSEE. They are largely of immigrant origin. In Aygalades, in the northern districts of Marseille, there are numerous Muslim migrants. The Christian presence, discreet, however, remains strong: “In forty years, I have seen the hair turn white in the church, which was once full,” notes Martine, 68, member of the pastoral animation team. But the secularization which marked the second half of the 20th century ended in the cities: “Before, we didn’t see religions. Today, everyone claims their own,” continues this lay person engaged with the Mission de France community. And there too, “the number of candidates for baptism is exploding”.

Consolidate your identity

What is happening in these parishes in working-class neighborhoods? While “we are in a situation of affirmation of identities”, according to a phrase from the sociologist Danièle Hervieu-Léger, would the attraction for religions and their age-old traditions respond to a need to consolidate an identity? The journey of two young women from Les Ulis (Essonne) supports this hypothesis: “I set out towards baptism after a visit to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican,” confides Nina, 21 years old. Of Portuguese origin, her parents had never taken her to a church. At the same time, one of her friends, whose father is Muslim but far from practicing, began to attend the mosque. “Faced with Islam, the need to explore one’s Christian roots can be stimulated,” observes Father Dominique Barnérias, theologian and parish priest of Plaisir (Yvelines), where Muslims, non-believers, and Christians coexist. “It’s not cool today not to believe,” summarizes Arthur, 17, a public high school student in Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire), a town in the agglomeration of Tours, to the population. mixed.

The community experience proves decisive in the journey of new Christians, but it is inseparable from the spiritual experience. Arthur sat down one Sunday in the back of the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul church in his town. “How to be part of your community? » he asks Father Rémy Soubrier, who welcomes him at the end of the mass. The big teenager finds the assembly happy and brings friends there. Knowing that he “counts in the eyes of God” fills him with joy, he confided to the priest.

Same echo in Sartrouville (Yvelines): “For a third of the newly baptized, entry into the catechumenate is linked to the discovery of mass in a particularly joyful church located in the heart of the city. The figure of Jesus, forgiveness, service to the poor touches them. It is not uncommon to see people crying during the homily. Many have an experience of salvation, from situations of precariousness, dissolute life, or search for meaning,” explains Father Xavier Chavane, parish priest, with twenty-seven years of ministry in several cities in the department.

Daily interactions

The influx of these new candidates for baptism shakes up the parishes. “We can no longer welcome catechumens individually,” continues Father Xavier, “but in small groups. Once a month, we open the Bible together to found a catechesis on salvation in Jesus Christ, the commandments, the Creed, the sacraments. These men and women who come to faith renew our community through their reception of the word of God and their commitment: half of the leaders of the class are recently baptized. »

In the city of Bois-l’Abbé (Champigny-sur-Marne and Chennevières-sur-Marne), the choice to root the community in the word of God was made long ago by Father Bruno Cadart, priest of the diocese from Créteil and member of Prado (spiritual family committed to the poorest). And it is paying off. Thus, the catechists’ WhatsApp group interacts daily on the texts of the day’s mass. Over the past year, its members, with other parishioners, organized the care of a mother in distress arriving from Peru with a teenager, then another coming from Cameroon with her daughter. Both children went to school and became perfectly French-speaking.

There is no shortage of challenges in these young communities with very diverse traditions. How can we respond to the spiritual needs of African, Asian, European or American Christians who express themselves differently depending on their culture? “Through the city, I know Mali, Pakistan and many other countries in a physical way,” rejoices the very experienced Father Xavier Chavane. Every Sunday, we come together in the celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus, Light of the Nations, allows us to be in communion without erasing multiculturality. » This communion between all, however, remains to be woven, and the role of priests in this regard is crucial.

The city pastors we interviewed, all passionate about their ministry, generally have to learn on the job. So that they could exchange and support each other, a specific collective was born. In 2020, Jean-Étienne Rime, communications professional, came to visit Patrice Gaudin, a priest friend from the Bordeaux diocese who became parish priest of Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis). He is stunned: “I discovered a neighborhood where everyone believes in God, where the church – a sort of hangar – was filled on Sundays with an assembly that transfigured the place. » He also becomes aware of the magnitude of the priest’s task. With Father Étienne Guillet, they founded the Missionary Fraternity of Cities. In March 2022, around fifteen priests will meet in Paris to share their experience.

In October 2024, there are more than forty of them, the majority of whom are young people, coming from the Saint-Martin community, from that of Emmanuel or, for one of them, from the traditionalist Fraternity sacerdotale Saint-Pierre. Some, older people, trained for a long time in the pastoral care of working-class neighborhoods, joined the group. Among them, Father Cadart du Prado, another on a worker’s mission, as well as the Sons of Charity.

Around ten lay volunteers support their actions. One of them caught the attention of the media: last January, Pope Francis received 12 young people from Bondy, La Courneuve, Trappes and Sarcelles. Francis had expressed a desire to meet them after the riots in the cities, in 2023. “You often say that we have to go to the outskirts. Today, it is the periphery of France that comes to you. We want to evangelize,” they tell the pope, delighted.

Riding on the principle of “inverted peripheries”, the Missionary Brotherhood of Cities immediately organized the reception of six young adults from Bondy by families from a rural parish in Maine-et-Loire. On the program for the weekend in April: vigil of praise, street evangelization, meal with around twenty parishioners.

Living in communities

Beyond this one-off initiative, can the vitality of city communities infuse into the Church? Yes, there is hope. In 2024, Pope Francis chose to appoint three priests from the diocese of Versailles (Yvelines) as bishops. Two of them, Fathers Matthieu Dupont (bishop of Laval) and Alexandre de Bucy (bishop of Agen) were “very marked by their years in Sartrouville”, remembers the current parish priest who stayed with them in the same building, “among people”. As for the third, Étienne Guillet, his interest in urban Christians dates back to the seminary: “He came to see me when I was a priest in the city of 3,000 in Aulnay-sous-Bois,” remembers Xavier Chavane. However, the role of the bishop is in particular to stimulate communion between the different communities of his diocese, despite disparities in ages, social conditions and cultures. The credibility of Christians is at stake, no less, according to a well-known word of Christ: “It is by the love that you have for one another that they will know that you are my disciples” (Gospel of John 13, 35).