Baptismal Certificate

[Mountain_Man]

Hi. I’ve been away from the church for a long time (more than 30 years) and have been contemplating a return. I was baptized as a Catholic shortly after birth, attended CCD as a child, had first confession and first communion, but was never confirmed.

I recently obtained a copy of my baptismal certificate. Everything was in order, except that my father’s first name was wrong. I also Googled the name of the priest out of curiosity and was surprised to learn he was accused of something quite bad that allegedly occurred long after my baptism. He was never found guilty of the accusation and is today retired from the priesthood (he was never defrocked or anything along those lines). Would either of these things invalidate my baptism?

There is also no notation for my first communion. I have the date recorded in an old missal and contacted the parish where it took place (obviously different from where I was baptized), but they have no record of it either. Would this prevent me from receiving communion? If I have to wait until after Confirmation, which date would go on my record - my first communion as a child in the Seventies, or the first one after Confirmation?

Thanks!

 

[Marie5890]

Hi. I’ve been away from the church for a long time (more than 30 years) and have been contemplating a return. I was baptized as a Catholic shortly after birth, attended CCD as a child, had first confession and first communion, but was never confirmed.

I recently obtained a copy of my baptismal certificate. Everything was in order, except that my father’s first name was wrong. I also Googled the name of the priest out of curiosity and was surprised to learn he was accused of something quite bad that allegedly occurred long after my baptism. He was never found guilty of the accusation and is today retired from the priesthood (he was never defrocked or anything along those lines). Would either of these things invalidate my baptism?

There is also no notation for my first communion. I have the date recorded in an old missal and contacted the parish where it took place (obviously different from where I was baptized), but they have no record of it either. Would this prevent me from receiving communion? If I have to wait until after Confirmation, which date would go on my record - my first communion as a child in the Seventies, or the first one after Confirmation?

Thanks!

Welcome HOME!!

Your baptism is valid. It’s not the holiness, or lack there of, of a priest that determines the validity of the sacrament, just that he was validly ordained.

Keep that missal that has the date noted for your First Communion and when you are part of a parish (Im not sure if you are looking for one) sit down and talk with the priest about your situation and your journey.

You will need to go to confession prior to receiving the Eurcharist again, but a priest will advise you in what you need to do as well as the steps you will need to be confirmed.

Again, welcome home.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Actions of the priest long after your baptism do not affect you at all. Your Father’s first name may just be a typo. Take the certificate and the missal to your current priest and ask him your questions. There may be a record of your first communion at the diocese or in other records. In any case, as a baptised Catholic, you won’t necessarily have to wait until after confirmation to receive again. You just need to receive sacramental confession. But speak to your priest and abide by his advice.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

The validity of sacraments depends only on the minister being properly authorized to administer them. The present, or future state, of his soul has no effect.

First Communions should be noted on baptismal certificates, but frequently they are not.

 

[Vico]

…

There is also no notation for my first communion. I have the date recorded in an old missal and contacted the parish where it took place (obviously different from where I was baptized), but they have no record of it either. Would this prevent me from receiving communion? If I have to wait until after Confirmation, which date would go on my record - my first communion as a child in the Seventies, or the first one after Confirmation?

Thanks!

This is not unusual since what must be recorded (in the Latin Church) is baptism and confirmation, but not first penance or first communion. So you can receive communion whenever you are free of any serious sins.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi… I also Googled the name of the priest out of curiosity and was surprised to learn he was accused of something quite bad that allegedly occurred long after my baptism.

that has nothing whatever to do with the validity of any sacraments he confected at any time, even if he had been found guilty of something.

There is also no notation for my first communion. !

it is not mandatory for the parish to record this, and in some places it is not routinely done. if the parish where you are being confirmed has a problem with the lack of record they are unaware of this fact. Show the notation you do have, but they should not be asking for proof. In any case you will be making a general confession at some point before confirmation, if you have not already done so, and can receive communion any time after that without waiting for confirmation.

Welcome home, I love news like this

Call your baptismal parish, or have the parish secretary where you are preparing for confirmation do it for you, and find out if the mispelling of your father’s name is just a typo. If they have it wrong in their records, you will need to provide them with your birth certificate so they can make the correction, because you want the confirmation record to also be accurate, and they go by the baptismal certificate for that information.

 

[Mountain_Man]

Thank you everyone for the reassuring responses. Puzzleannie, I’ll take your advice on showing my birth certficate to clear up the discrepancies. I seem to be jinxed when it comes to official documents - upon graduating from college, the school mispelled my last name on the diplpma. Ah, well.

 

[felsguy]

Thank you everyone for the reassuring responses. Puzzleannie, I’ll take your advice on showing my birth certficate to clear up the discrepancies. I seem to be jinxed when it comes to official documents - upon graduating from college, the school mispelled my last name on the diplpma. Ah, well.

I luv it!

 

[puzzleannie]

Thank I seem to be jinxed when it comes to official documents - upon graduating from college, the school mispelled my last name on the diplpma. Ah, well.

our family has a collection of long German last names, and this has plagued us for generations in officialdom, there is one name with punctuation that defies modern computer systems and I think they just gave up and had it legally changed.

 

[Cristiano]

I am not sure of your age and when you received your first communion but you must also consider the possibility that maybe you were confirmed when you received your first communion. A lot of us, older people, were confirmed at the same time.

 

[Mountain_Man]

I am not sure of your age and when you received your first communion but you must also consider the possibility that maybe you were confirmed when you received your first communion. A lot of us, older people, were confirmed at the same time.

Cristiano, I don’t remember being confirmed. If I was, the parish has no record of it. We moved a year after my first communion (mid-1970s), my mother started working, and our church attendance declined to the point that we just went on Christmas and Easter.

The only thing I can vividly recall about first communion was going to IHOP afterwords with the grandparents. I spilled orange juice all over my new white shirt, which did NOT please my mother.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I am not sure of your age and when you received your first communion but you must also consider the possibility that maybe you were confirmed when you received your first communion. A lot of us, older people, were confirmed at the same time.

In that case it would very probably be on his baptismal certificate. Parishes are quite diligent in recording confirmations.