Who Can Receive Baptism?
By DON FIER
The meaning and grace of the Sacrament of Baptism, as has been demonstrated over the past two weeks, is magnificently revealed through the rite itself. Each step of the solemn ceremony — every word and gesture, every material element which is utilized (water, chrism, white garment, candle) — in some way symbolizes an aspect of the profound reality that is taking place within the soul of the person being baptized.
The neophyte, who is spiritually reborn “of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5), is now “clothed in Christ” and has “been given the light of Christ.”
Although the Church’s solemn liturgical ceremony for Baptism includes eight steps, “the essential rite of Baptism,” explains the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), “consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (n. 1278).
So vital is the sacrament to a person’s initiation of new life in Christ that the Church permits anyone (even an atheist provided that proper form, matter, and the intention to do what the Church intends is present) to confer the essential rite when a person is in imminent danger of death.
In the event the person survives, a priest or deacon in his parish church should perform the solemn ceremony of Baptism at a later time, but without the essential matter and form used in the emergency rite. Why? The baptismal rite — in its entirety — includes elements (e.g., exorcisms and anointing) that are important for normal development of a baptized person’s spiritual life.
This serves as an excellent segue into the next topic considered by the Catechism: “Who can receive Baptism?” In answer, it refers to the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC): “Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is capable of baptism” (canon 864; as cited in CCC, n. 1246).
This is precisely why a person who has received emergency Baptism and then celebrates the solemn baptismal ceremony at a later date must do so without the essential matter and form used in the emergency rite. The Sacrament of Baptism cannot be repeated because an indelible character has been imprinted on the person’s soul which can never be rendered null.
What if it is uncertain as to whether a person has been validly baptized? Because of the vital importance of Baptism, the Church teaches: “If there is a doubt whether a person has been baptized or whether baptism was conferred validly and the doubt remains after a serious investigation, baptism is to be conferred conditionally” (CIC, canon 869 § 1).
It is important to note that rebaptism is not necessary for those who have been baptized in non-Catholic ecclesial communities (i.e., mainline Protestant churches) and are entering the Catholic Church unless there is a well-founded doubt about the validity of the first Baptism. When conditional Baptism is administered, the priest begins by saying, “If you are not already baptized, I baptize you….”
In its treatment on who can be baptized, the Catechism first considers adults and states that “since the beginning of the Church, adult Baptism is the common practice where the proclamation of the Gospel is still new” (CCC, n. 1247). These are persons who have reached the age of reason and are thus responsible for making their own decision with regard to acceptance of the faith.
Integral in their formation, especially in the aftermath of the reforms of Vatican II, is a lengthy catechumenate. In the words of the council fathers, this is not “a mere expounding of doctrines and precepts, but a training period in the whole Christian life…during which disciples are joined to Christ their Teacher” (Ad Gentes [AG], n. 14; as cited in CCC, n. 1248).
In a volume entitled Commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (edited by Michael J. Walsh), Fr. Edward Yarnold, SJ, specifies a threefold purpose for this time of preparation for reception of the sacraments of initiation.
First, candidates are to advance through a period of progressive conversion and growth in virtue. Secondly, they are to experience growth in faith through instruction on the Church’s teaching on Sacred Scripture, doctrine, and the moral life. Finally, they are to be introduced to the worship and mission of the local community through their active participation in the sacred liturgy during successive preparatory rites (cf. p. 248).
The candidate’s entrance into the catechumenate represents a serious step, and the council fathers recognize this by affirming that “since they are [already] joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and not seldom they are already leading a life of faith, hope, and charity” (AG, n. 14 § 5).
Should they die before reaching the day of ceremonial Baptism, they are entitled to Christian burial, for “their explicit desire to receive [Baptism], together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament” (CCC, n. 1259). “With love and solicitude,” teach the council fathers, “Mother Church already embraces them as her own” (Lumen Gentium, n. 14 § 3).
The Catechism now shifts its focus to infant Baptism, a practice it states “is an immemorial tradition of the Church” (CCC, n. 1252). Although the actual time when the Church began to regularly baptize babies is disputed among scholars, it seems most likely that the practice began in apostolic times. Scripture does not reveal an explicit command by our Lord that children should be baptized, nor does it reveal an opposing command. A strong argument in favor of infant Baptism is that entire households, which surely included young children, were baptized at the hands of the apostles (see Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Cor. 1:16).
Another strong argument in favor of infant Baptism are the words of Jesus Himself when He reprimanded His disciples for trying to keep children at a distance: “Then children were brought to [Jesus] that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people; but Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’ And he laid his hands on them and went away” (Matt. 19:13-15).
Likewise, in the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus explicitly calls infants to Himself (cf. Luke 18:15-17). Yet another indication suggestive of Baptism for newborns can be seen in an Old Testament prefigurement that was demonstrated earlier in this series: circumcision (see volume 148, n. 45; November 12, 2015). This ritual practice, which was replaced by Baptism in the New Testament (see Col. 2:11), was administered on Jewish children eight days after birth.
Explicit testimony for the practice of infant Baptism first appears in the second century (cf. CCC, n. 1252). In his treatise entitled Against Heresies (written about AD 180), early Church Father St. Irenaeus of Lyons states: “All who through Christ are born again to God, infants and children and boys and young men and old men are born again to God” (II, 22, 4).
Likewise, writing in about AD 215, St. Hippolytus of Rome says: “Baptize first the children, and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them” (Apostolic Tradition, 22, 4; as cited in The Didache Series: The Sacraments, p. 41).
The Priceless Grace
Why does the Catholic Church so vociferously teach of the need for infant Baptism? “Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin,” attests the Catechism, “children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called” (n. 1250).
As emphasized in a Vatican document entitled “Instruction on Infant Baptism” (approved by Pope St. John Paul II in October of 1980), Holy Mother Church “knows no other way apart from Baptism for ensuring children’s entry into eternal happiness” (Pastoralis Actio, n. 13).
The Code of Canon Law clearly states: “Parents are obliged to take care that infants are baptized in the first few weeks; as soon as possible after the birth or even before it, they are to go to the pastor to request the sacrament for their child and to be prepared properly for it” (canon 867 §1).
Were the Church and parents to neglect the solemn duty of conferring Baptism upon a baby shortly after birth, it would be to “deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God” (CCC, n. 1250) in the event of premature death.
There are those, however, who argue against the legitimacy of infant Baptism as a general rule. They maintain that the sacrament’s conferral should be postponed until a person reaches an age when he is able to speak for himself. It appears, in fact, that one of the primary reasons for the promulgation of Pastoralis Actio was to rebut arguments put forward by those promoting the sacrament’s delay.
It is with this topic that we will pick up next week.
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
