You have probably heard that something extraordinary is happening in the Catholic Church in France. The French bishops’ conference announced in April that more than 10,000 adults were due to be baptised in 2025 – a 45 per cent increase on the year before.

France is seeing what the media call a ‘boom biblique’: a rapid rise in sales of the Bible

It’s not just adult baptisms that are booming. A record 19,000 people, many young, attended this year’s Paris to Chartres pilgrimage. An unprecedented 13,500 high school students took part in the 2025 Lourdes FRAT pilgrimage, a major annual youth event.

The country is also seeing what French media call a ‘boom biblique’: a rapid rise in sales of the Bible. Religious bookstores report a 20 per cent increase in purchases since 2024.

It’s easy to s

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