“And you, how did you have faith? » The question flies over the meal trays from the first minutes of dinner. Here, during the first “Forum of Seekers of God” organized by the sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial and the community of Emmanuel, harmless conversations are not on the menu. More than two hundred catechumens, neophytes, beginners and companions experienced three days of retreat there, from Thursday July 2 to Sunday July 5, in this place of devotion to the Sacred Heart made essential by the eponymous film. Its viewing also encouraged several of the participants to go to Paray.
Many were also attracted by the title of the session. “The expression “seekers of God” acted on me like a summons,” Maud testifies. “Without that, I would not have felt legitimate to come,” recognizes the 53-year-old woman, baptized as a child, who turns to the figure of Jesus after long years of all-out spiritual quest. “I came to explore the Catholic religion, to look for proof,” she confides. These people who fear mixing with the crowd of convinced Catholics need a wide open front door. Several mothers took the opportunity to invite their daughters in spiritual search to experience a session. During these few days, doubts and questions are welcome.
Questions that do not leave you unscathed
Neophytes driven by a straightforward faith or seekers of meaning still far from certainty, they are inhabited by a multitude of questions. This perpetual quest does not leave those who experience it unscathed, to the point that the need to share with others is very strong. “I’m not necessarily looking for answers, but for people who will ask questions with me,” Benoît says slowly. The 33-year-old young adult gave up his family Catholicism, exasperated by the social shackles it represented. However, neither the quest for God nor metaphysical questions left him.
The new faith of the neophytes is no guarantee of tranquility either. “I question everything,” summarizes Fabrice, 53 years old. The Strasbourg professor, confirmed at Pentecost 2026, returned to the religious practice of his adolescence after fifteen years of hesitation. He came to the session hoping to nourish “the deep reflection on his existence” triggered by his conversion.
Closed in on himself after a difficult childhood, he turned to faith in the depths of a long night of sadness and anguish. “It’s incredible what has happened to me since,” says this smiling and talkative man. According to the study conducted by La Croix in 2025, 37% of catechumens cite “a test of life” in the milestones that led them to baptism.
Proximity and spiritual sharing
The intense spiritual thirst shared by the retreatants pushes them to surrender. Marie, a 34-year-old medical secretary, cheerful and outgoing, does not hesitate to collect the testimony of other participants, as a means of nourishing her desire for “inner wealth”. In the experience of others, the participants try to detect an echo of their own experience: a strong spiritual experience – which motivates the approach of half of the catechumens, according to this same study –, a turnaround in life. They do not hide the personal difficulties that opened them to the quest for God. These in-depth exchanges open up the possibility of spiritual sharing that may be lacking in ordinary parish life. “I need deep dialogue and I often feel alone,” confides Caroline, a 45-year-old psychologist who will be confirmed at Pentecost 2027.
In fact, the inexhaustible spiritual thirst of some people can seem confusing to a habituated believer. “I have already found God, but I came to this session because there is always something to learn,” continues the mother who, at home, devours books and podcasts on Christianity. The catechumens’ feeling of ignorance often generates a great desire to learn, even though 47% of them come from a non-Catholic family (1).
Beyond the strictly intellectual dimension, others bear witness to a sensitive experience of God. This is what guided Camille, a 44-year-old architect with a Catholic education nourished by Asian spiritualities. “I was guided here because I found in Christ the love and peace that I experienced elsewhere,” he confides. The inner experience, which some seek, is favored by the session which cuts the ordinary rhythm. “This time apart is good, because we quickly get caught up in daily life and stress,” confides Marie.
Anchor religious practice
“They are not looking for something, but someone,” says Juliette de Sauveboeuf, a 47-year-old mother responsible for the session. She cites the example of a couple of retreatants, with a New Age look and arms covered in tattoos, married in front of a Brahmin, whose spiritual quest was disrupted by the irruption of the figure of Jesus. Some are convinced of the existence of a being who surpasses them and try to put a name to this suspected but unknown God.
The participants confide their difficulty in integrating their spiritual experiences into everyday life. This is also the challenge that those accompanying catechumens encounter: “We struggle to anchor the practice after baptism,” confides Béatrice Voegel, of the Parisian parish of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs. Many “seekers” will integrate a Christian community based on the relational richness they find there. “Participating in a small fraternity in my parish is essential for me,” says Fabrice. “I find there a little of what I experienced during the session. »
