5th graders asked:

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My 5th grade CCD class asked if one came on an accident involving a pregnant woman and it was obvious she would die before help arrived, is there a way to baptize her baby?

This is the first time they have stumped me and your help will be greatly appreciated.
 
57classic said:
My 5th grade CCD class asked if one came on an accident involving a pregnant woman and it was obvious she would die before help arrived, is there a way to baptize her baby?

This is the first time they have stumped me and your help will be greatly appreciated.
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This was asked recently, and the answer given was no, a person has to be born to be baptized.
 
Thank you for your reply. Will you provide a link to that thread, please?
 
Thank you! I was afraid the answer was going to crush them but it is perfect.
 
I remember reading that a baptism during an emergency Caesarean is possible, and even a conditional baptism of a baby where its exact alive/dead status is unclear (it’s somewhere in Denzinger, but I’m at work and I don’t have the book with me right now), so that might be a possible “out”. Of course, I might be misremembering, because I have a penchant for wishful thinking… :o
 
RPRPsych said:
I remember reading that a baptism during an emergency Caesarean is possible, and even a conditional baptism of a baby where its exact alive/dead status is unclear (it’s somewhere in Denzinger, but I’m at work and I don’t have the book with me right now), so that might be a possible “out”. Of course, I might be misremembering, because I have a penchant for wishful thinking… :o
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I think the OP was referring to an unborn child.
 
paperwight66 said:
I think the OP was referring to an unborn child.
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Quite correct. However, unborn does not necessarily equate to dead. If an emergency Caesarean can be performed or attempted in time, a baptism is still possible. If not, then the post by CB Catholic is an excellent answer to the OP’s question.

Now to find that passage in Denzinger… 🙂
 
RPRPsych said:
Quite correct. However, unborn does not necessarily equate to dead. If an emergency Caesarean can be performed or attempted in time, a baptism is still possible. If not, then the post by CB Catholic is an excellent answer to the OP’s question.

Now to find that passage in Denzinger… 🙂
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They would baptize as soon as the baby is delivered.
 
57classic said:
My 5th grade CCD class asked if one came on an accident involving a pregnant woman and it was obvious she would die before help arrived, is there a way to baptize her baby?

This is the first time they have stumped me and your help will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
As long as any part of the baby is accessible, baptism can (indeed, in an emergency, must) be done. That’s true even if most of the baby is still within the mother.
  1. No child is to be baptized while still enclosed in the mother’s womb, as long as there is a probable hope that it can be properly brought forth and then baptized. If only the head of the child has come forth and there is danger of its dying, it should be baptized on the head; if afterward it is born and lives, baptism may not be repeated conditionally. If another member of the body makes its appearance and there is danger of death, the baptism should be conferred conditionally upon that member; if the child lives after birth it must be rebaptized conditionally. Should a mother die in confinement, the fetus should be extracted by those obliged thereto by their profession, and if there is a certainty that it lives, it should be baptized absolutely, otherwise conditionally. A fetus baptized while in the mother’s womb must be rebaptized conditionally after birth.
sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/07-the-sacrament-of-baptism-general-rules.html

Note that the reason for conditional baptism afterwards is because the baptism is not done “on the head.” If done on the head, then there is no doubt as to validity.
 
I get what you mean, but the 5th graders were asking what THEY could do. I’m not going to discuss a C-Section of a dead mother. Some of these are farm kids and have seen things other kids wouldn’t dream of.

Thank you so much for your help. They sometimes ask some tough questions and I am glad I can come here when I can’t find the answer for myself.
 
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