Laurence de Charette: “Man, this religious animal”

It began a little before the Easter holidays – it should be noted that Easter has not yet suffered the same linguistic fate as Christmas, which is about to be renamed the “winter festival” . Baptism figures , particularly those of adult baptisms, which speak of the new direction in life, burst into the newspaper columns. “More than 45% increase” , “More than 17,800 catechumens baptized in France in 2025”, were the headlines – what could be more “secular” than a statistic? In the wake of Good Friday, the rumor swelled: we had seen, damn it, packed churches. Quickly, commentators sought explanations, reasonable reasons: an “identity reflex” perhaps? A mimetic shock in the face of conquering Islam, no doubt?

We were preparing, as the great whirlwind of the world demands, to move on to something else, when the sovereign pontiff left us, just when we thought he was refreshed, the day after Easter...