Fervor and optimism

International | RELIGION: Scholars are detecting a growing interest in spiritual matters in France and throughout Europe

THE FRENCH VILLAGE OF GURAT had a special event early this month. On Veterans Day, the one and only Mass of the year was celebrated in the local Roman Catholic church, which has not had a pastor in decades. The priest, Father Martial LeBlanc, came from a nearby town: He looks after 40 altars in the area, which tells you something about the decayed state of French Catholicism. But that old story has a new twist.

After the service, several of us walked across the street to the war memorial, exchanging family histories relating to World War I. I told of how my father, a young German lieutenant then, was blinded in both eyes by shrapnel as his platoon charged a French position. Frenchmen spoke of grandfathers they had never met because of this fratricidal conflict. And Rev. LeBlanc, an energetic 31-year-old, said, "These horror stories prove that it is high time for mission in Europe."