OPINION — France was supposed to be finished with Christianity. Apparently, Christianity wasn’t finished with France.
That is the surprising story now emerging from one of Europe’s most secular societies. Tens of thousands of young people recently filled the Stade de France for prayer. Hundreds of thousands gathered for Mass in Paris. At newly restored Notre-Dame, the symbolism was hard to miss — cathedral and faith rising together. At Lourdes, enormous crowds gathered for candlelight processions. Pope Leo’s visit did not look like a ceremonial farewell to an aging faith. It looked like an astonishing public outpouring of belief — young, visible and unapologetically Christian.
But crowds can be deceiving. Numbers of converts are harder to dismiss.
