Baptism - is this moral?

[thechrismyster]

lets say a friend has a child, they aren’t christian, and you know the baby won’t be baptized. is it permitted to quietly trace the sign of the cross on the babies head while holding the kid and say “i baptize you in the…” in order to baptize them - knowing the parents never will - or would this be an abuse of the sacrament.
not a real situation, just something that occurred to me in a caffeine induced stupor while reading an apologetics book at barnes and noble tonight…
any (name removed by moderator)ut is appreciated.

 

[Affirmed]

Not acceptable. The parents must consent to the baptism. Besides, you are sentencing that child to obligations he cannot possible fulfill. Mass, etc.

 

[Elliott]

I don’t think your supposed to do that because the child won’t be raised with a christian upbringing.

 

[Dr.Bombay]

You have to use water to baptize.

And you can only do it in the case of imminent death.

 

[netmilsmom]

Elliott:

I don’t think your supposed to do that because the child won’t be raised with a christian upbringing.

Well, there are people on these threads who feel that it is perfectly okay to let a child receive First Confession and First Communion eventhough the parents do not practice the faith.
Even the Apologist.

In my mind, it takes away the child’s innocence and encourages the “Suzie needs a party” idea.

How do we know that God won’t create a miracle and the child will be brought up Catholic?

Personally, although I would like to Baptize every child, there are rules to be followed. Even a priest is charged not to baptize if the parents are not practicing Catholics.

Do we believe in Limbo anymore?

 

[tee_eff_em]

netmil(name removed by moderator):

Personally, although I would like to Baptize every child, there are rules to be followed. Even a priest is charged not to baptize if the parents are not practicing Catholics.

…And laymen (which I presume **thechrismyster **to be) are not charged to baptize **anyone, **except in cases of necessity, which is not the case described.

:twocents:
tee

 

[netmilsmom]

tee_eff_em:

…And laymen (which I presume **thechrismyster **to be) are not charged to baptize **anyone, **except in cases of necessity, which is not the case described.

:twocents:
tee

Quite right!

 

[Kielbasi]

I don’t know about the “morality” of it, but its certainly inappropriate to baptize a child into a faith that his parents don’t belong to, and its inappropriate for a layman to baptize except in a situation where a priest in unavailable or unwilling to celebrate the sacrament.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

thechrismyster:

lets say a friend has a child, they aren’t christian, and you know the baby won’t be baptized. is it permitted to quietly trace the sign of the cross on the babies head while holding the kid and say “i baptize you in the…” in order to baptize them - knowing the parents never will - or would this be an abuse of the sacrament.
not a real situation, just something that occurred to me in a caffeine induced stupor while reading an apologetics book at barnes and noble tonight…
any (name removed by moderator)ut is appreciated.

Unless the child is in danger of death, at least one parent must give consent for the child to be Baptized licitly. Tracing the cross on the childs forhead and speaking the words of Baptism will not Baptized the child anyway.

 

[Shiann]

netmil(name removed by moderator):

Well, there are people on these threads who feel that it is perfectly okay to let a child receive First Confession and First Communion eventhough the parents do not practice the faith. Even the Apologist.

There are always those who fall throught he cracks. But the assumption can still be made with these situations, that since the parents sought the sacrament for these kids that you’ve described, there is an intent to let that child have faith. Wether the parents fulfill that intent is another story…

In my mind, it takes away the child’s innocence and encourages the “Suzie needs a party” idea.

Not sure I follow this… what takes away the child’s innocence?

How do we know that God won’t create a miracle and the child will be brought up Catholic?

We pray that happens- in God’s time.

God knows every hair on that baby’s head- He will not forsake them.

Personally, although I would like to Baptize every child, there are rules to be followed. Even a priest is charged not to baptize if the parents are not practicing Catholics.

Do we believe in Limbo anymore?

It is my understanding that it is not required that Catholic’s believe in Limbo.

newadvent.org/cathen/09256a.htm
Catholic Encyclopedia citation on Limbo