Baptized into Catholic and Lutheran church?

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raisingacatholi

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Last year I married a Catholic, and we are now expecting our first child 🙂

It is important to my husband that the baby be raised Catholic- go to Catholic school, be baptized/confirmed/do first communion. I am supportive of this- my family is Lutheran but I feel less compelled than he does.

We already have the ball rolling on a Catholic baptism… however, I know that it would mean a lot to my parents to christen the baby in the same (Lutheran) church that I was christened in as well. My question is: would the Catholic Church be against this?

…my thought is that any non-Catholic baptism wouldn’t be recognized by the Catholic church, ergo there is no issue. My husband is seemingly less fine with a plan to do both and suspects the Catholic Church would object.

I would love to know the church’s position on this! The baby would be raised Catholic but with some traditions etc from my family. To this end, I like the idea of the two christenings. If the Catholic Church forbids this, I guess we will have to think about it further.

Thank you in advance!
 
I believe this would be discouraged. I know that if a person is baptized in another church, then converts to Catholicism, they are not re-baptized, since it’s only supposed to be done once.
 
It would be considered a sacrilege because baptism cannot be repeated, and you are therefore simulating a sacrament. It would also be the sin of indifferentism because you’re essentially saying that Lutheranism is not much different from Catholicism and it doesn’t matter where you get your sacraments.

You agreed to do everything in your power to have the children raised in the Catholic faith, now do your part and support your husband. He is right.
 
Thank you for clarifying for me. You are right- we will just do the one baptism and honor what that entails.
 
If you married him in the Church you would have had to agree to raise the children Catholic. This cannot include a Lutheran baptism.
 
raisingacatholi said:
Thank you for clarifying for me. You are right- we will just do the one baptism and honor what that entails.
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On a more conciliatory (not to mention ecumenical) note: have you considered discussing with the priest who will be celebrating the baptism the idea of inviting the local Lutheran minister (assuming that your family has a relationship with him) to be present at the baptism (but not as a celebrant)?
 
ServusHumilis said:
If you married him in the Church you would have had to agree to raise the children Catholic. This cannot include a Lutheran baptism.
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The non-Catholic is not asked to agree to raise the children Catholic. That’s a promise the Catholic party makes. The non-Catholic is simply informed of the promise.
 
Elizium23 said:
You agreed to do everything in your power to have the children raised in the Catholic faith, now do your part and support your husband. He is right.
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Her husband is the one who promised that.

That said, there is ONE baptism for the remission of sins, not two. The Catholic Church would not agree to the proposed scenario.
 
raisingacatholi said:
We already have the ball rolling on a Catholic baptism… however, I know that it would mean a lot to my parents to christen the baby in the same (Lutheran) church that I was christened in as well. My question is: would the Catholic Church be against this?
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Lutherans and Catholics believe what the Nicene Creed states: there is one baptism for the remission of sins.

It is not *possible *to baptize your child both Catholic and Lutheran. And it would be sacrilegious to perform a second baptism.

I hope you find a way to involve your family that will honor them while still maintaining a correct understanding of baptism.
 
Phemie said:
The non-Catholic is not asked to agree to raise the children Catholic. That’s a promise the Catholic party makes. The non-Catholic is simply informed of the promise.
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But the other party HAD to consent on this before they were married. You cannot force this on anyone, deception is not conducive to a lasting marriage.
Just my :twocents:
 
JerryZ said:
But the other party HAD to consent on this before they were married. You cannot force this on anyone, deception is not conducive to a lasting marriage.
Just my :twocents:
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The Church has no such requirement.

From the ***DIRECTORY FOR THE APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES AND NORMS ON ECUMENISM
***150. When, for a just and reasonable cause, permission for a mixed marriage is requested, both parties are to be instructed on the essential ends and properties of marriage which are not to be excluded by either party. Furthermore, the Catholic party will be asked to affirm, in the form established by the particular law of the Eastern Catholic Churches or by the Episcopal Conference, that he or she is prepared to avoid the dangers of abandoning the faith and to promise sincerely to do all in his/her power to see that the children of the marriage be baptized and educated in the Catholic Church. The other partner is to be informed of these promises and responsibilities.142 At the same time, it should be recognized that the non-Catholic partner may feel a like obligation because of his/her own Christian commitment. It is to be noted that no formal written or oral promise is required of this partner in Canon Law.
 
Back in the day when my parents were married, my non-Catholic dad did have to promise to raise us kids Catholic. It was a requirement back then.

Nowadays, it is not a requirement.

(I think some non-Catholics do promise it, though, if only to make it clear to their side of the family that they won’t be changing their mind. But it’s not anything pushed by the Church.)
 
InThePew said:
On a more conciliatory (not to mention ecumenical) note: have you considered discussing with the priest who will be celebrating the baptism the idea of inviting the local Lutheran minister (assuming that your family has a relationship with him) to be present at the baptism (but not as a celebrant)?
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^^^^ most definitely.
 
raisingacatholi said:
Last year I married a Catholic, and we are now expecting our first child 🙂

It is important to my husband that the baby be raised Catholic- go to Catholic school, be baptized/confirmed/do first communion. I am supportive of this- my family is Lutheran but I feel less compelled than he does.

We already have the ball rolling on a Catholic baptism… however, I know that it would mean a lot to my parents to christen the baby in the same (Lutheran) church that I was christened in as well. My question is: would the Catholic Church be against this?

…my thought is that any non-Catholic baptism wouldn’t be recognized by the Catholic church, ergo there is no issue. My husband is seemingly less fine with a plan to do both and suspects the Catholic Church would object.

I would love to know the church’s position on this! The baby would be raised Catholic but with some traditions etc from my family. To this end, I like the idea of the two christenings. If the Catholic Church forbids this, I guess we will have to think about it further.

Thank you in advance!
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The Church recognizes Protestant baptism. However, if your husband is Catholic you are supposed to raise the child Catholic which I assume includes being baptized at a Catholic Church.
 
raisingacatholi said:
Last year I married a Catholic, and we are now expecting our first child 🙂

It is important to my husband that the baby be raised Catholic- go to Catholic school, be baptized/confirmed/do first communion. I am supportive of this- my family is Lutheran but I feel less compelled than he does.

We already have the ball rolling on a Catholic baptism… however, I know that it would mean a lot to my parents to christen the baby in the same (Lutheran) church that I was christened in as well. My question is: would the Catholic Church be against this?
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It isn’t possible to baptize a person twice.
…my thought is that any non-Catholic baptism wouldn’t be recognized by the Catholic church, ergo there is no issue. My husband is seemingly less fine with a plan to do both and suspects the Catholic Church would object.
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The Catholic Church recognizes Lutheran baptisms, and likewise, the Lutheran churches recognize Catholic baptisms.

Both the Lutherans and the Catholics would object strenuously to baptizing someone after they had already been baptized. Both traditions would consider it a sacrilege.

Since the purpose of the Lutheran baptism would just be to create an opportunity for the Lutheran side of the family to have a party, I would recommend that you just skip the second baptism and just go straight to the party - call it a “Welcome, New Baby” party, rather than a Baptism party. 🙂
 
cena said:
The Church recognizes Protestant baptism. However, if your husband is Catholic you are supposed to raise the child Catholic which I assume includes being baptized at a Catholic Church.
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If their marriage is considered valid in the Catholic Church, then they have made a vow to raise their children Catholic, including baptising them in the Catholic faith, sending them to Catholic schools, and bringing them every Sunday to Mass. 🙂
 
jmcrae said:
If their marriage is considered valid in the Catholic Church, then they have made a vow to raise their children Catholic, including baptising them in the Catholic faith, sending them to Catholic schools, and bringing them every Sunday to Mass. 🙂
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No, the Catholic has promised that. The non- Catholic gets to follow his/her conscience.
 
jmcrae said:
The non-Catholic was present when the Catholic made the promise to raise the children Catholic.
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I don’t know how it is in any other parish but in mine they aren’t. The bride & groom are not together when they do the prenuptial investigation. They see the priest separately and do all this under oath. The non-Catholic is informed by the priest of the promise the Catholic made. In my case we weren’t even in the same province, let alone the same room.
 
The Catholic does not promise to bring up any children as Catholics but promises to do their best to to see that they are brought up Catholics.

The non-Catholic party does not have to make any such promise (although they would be free to do so).

Canon 1125:

1° the Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith, and is to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power in order that all the children be baptised and brought up in the Catholic Church;

2° the other party is to be informed in good time of these promises to be made by the Catholic party, so that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and of the obligation of the Catholic party
 
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