Why No Baptism?

Q: Our whole family has been very upset since a priest refused to baptize my nephew’s baby. Every generation of our family has been raised Catholic.

Since becoming adults, however, my sister’s children are not practicing Catholics. One of her sons had a job transfer out of state. When he and his wife took their new baby to be baptized, the priest said he would have to have a letter from my nephew’s previous parish, stating that he was a member in good standing.

My nephew offered to take instructions, or whatever is necessary, if the priest would baptize their baby, but the priest refused.

Is this the new practice of the Church and, if so, why? I’ve been told by a friend that the reason is the Church wants to be sure the child is raised Catholic. I find refusing Baptism to an infant very hard to accept.

A: I am sorry for the problem that has arisen, but there may be a happy ending to this story.

The Rite for Baptism of Infants includes questions to the parents about their readiness to raise this child as a Catholic. The priest or deacon asks two questions: What name have you given the child? What do you ask of God’s Church for this child?

After the parents give the child’s name and respond, “Baptism,” the priest or deacon says: “You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of raising him/her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him/her up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?”

At the end of the rite, after a blessing for the child’s mother, this blessing for the father follows: “God is the giver of all life, human and divine. May he bless the father of this child. He and his wife will be the first teachers of their child in the ways of faith. May they be also the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what they say and do, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We baptize infants when there is a reasonable hope that they will be raised in the Catholic faith. Priests should be prudent about this, not delaying Baptism without a good reason, but also not placing parents in a situation where they would have to lie about their intention to raise the child in a faith which the parents do not intend to practice.

The best way for your nephew to have this child baptized is to resume the practice of his faith, join a parish and attend Sunday Mass regularly, then approach the pastor or parish staff and request Baptism.