Baptizing those where death is close

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I am a lay Roman Catholic.
A loved one of mine is dying. He is not fully aware of his surroundings and has forgotten key details like the names of his children and what year it is.
He may or may not have been baptized in a Protestant denomination many years ago.
Am I permitted to baptize him? Using the Trinitarian formula and water I lightly pour over his head?

Please cite your sources. I believe canon law prohibits me from baptizing on my own authority. Also, he refused baptism in the past and his consent is impossible to get now.
 
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Please talk with a priest asap. If your relative was baptized already in an other denomination is not necessary a second Baptism. Moreover, I am not sure you can baptize an adult without his/her consent.
 
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aroosi said:
Moreover, I am not sure you can baptize an adult without his/her consent.
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^ This is the relevant piece here (in addition to the fact that it may even be conditional at best, if the relative is previously baptized). You have to have a strong reasonable assurance that baptism is what he would want before it is licit for you to do so.

Canon 861 § 2 gives you the “ability” to baptize in the right conditions. Canon 864 § 2 specifies the conditions in this case, which it sounds like may be missing.
 
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We are permitted to perform the baptism under extraordinary circumstances.
V. Who can Baptize?

1256 The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also the deacon.57 In case of necessity, any person, even someone not baptized, can baptize, if he has the required intention. the intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes, and to apply the Trinitarian baptismal formula. the Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will of God and the necessity of Baptism for salvation.58

Typically impending death is one requirement, however we cannot baptize someone against their will. Unless it is a baby who cannot have sinned. It is a safe bet we are not trying to force GOD to have someone sneak up in Heaven.
So in your case I would say you do not have the authority to baptize him.
 
aroosi said:
in an other denomination
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Catholics are not a denomination if that’s what you mean by another.
aroosi said:
If your relative was baptized already in an other denomination is not necessary a second Baptism.
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Protestants baptize with water but for Catholics we are baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is not the same thing to be baptized as a Catholic and baptized the way protestants do it. A conditional baptism can be done if it isn’t known if the person has been baptized the right way.
 
My mother had been anti-Catholic her entire life. At age 88, she was in an adult family home. Each week she watched as Father administered the Sacrament of Holy Communion to those Catholics in the home.

Something in her heart was changed by the presence of the Eucharist, as one Sunday she told Father “You know, I’m going to be Catholic.” Even though she was suffering from dementia, she was aware of what she was asking for.

Father conditionally baptized her on All Hallows eve and the Lord called her five months later. We took great comfort in the fact that she was unable to willfully sin post-baptism.

I do not know if, as someone declines, a baptism may be permissible if administered in loco parentis as it is with infants. If not, then such times are our opportunities to offer prayer for them.
 
I would say baptize him, specially when there is danger of dying. There are countless cases of people (even atheists) who had a change of heart when death was near (some started to feel God’s judgement).

And trust in God’s mercy, because that is the only thing that will help us at that crucial time.
 
OP here –

If I baptized him while he was incoherent, can I assume there is at least some possibility he actually does want that? Even if in the past he did not consent?

Here are some more facts to consider:
  • For as long as I have known him, he has been a self-described atheist
  • I asked him decades ago if his parents attended church and which one and his answer was “whatever the most boring one is”
  • I have no idea if he was baptized or not, but I assume he was because he was a middle class guy in the 50’s and I just make assumptions about that Mad Men-esque period and the higher level of conformity in society
  • I know he was not baptized Catholic
 
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You have had a priest on here tell you that you cannot baptize him without his consent. You have had the canons appropriate to the situation posted to you. Based on your posting of information it sounds like he wouldn’t even give consent if he was coherent since you said he was an atheist and has refused baptism in the past.

Do not baptize someone without their consent. Since you cannot get consent history shows he wouldn’t give it so you have to work from that knowledge. Pray for him. Offer a mass for him. That is all you can do.
 
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Well, I’m speaking from Canon Law and Theology, which provide that we don’t administrer the sacraments improperly. We have to respect the sacraments. While the bar for proper reception is rather low, if someone has said they do not want to be baptized, we shouldn’t force the issue.

On what basis do you disagree? Please cite the Catechism and the Code of Canon Law.

-Father ACEGC
 
Please NO! How would you feel if a Mormon Elder baptized you as you were unable to agree with it. Please have enough respect to accept that if he wanted to be Catholic, he would have done so before this point! I can’t think of anything more disrespectful even if your intentions are noble. Baptizing him at this point is for your peace of mind, not his!

I’m sorry but I find this comment unacceptable.
 
John10 said:
God’s mercy has no limits and works in ways which surpass our understanding.
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That being the case, why baptize? If God’s mercy works in mysterious ways and might save this person, why would baptism even be necessary? It would be better for us not to irreverently administer a baptism that is foreseen to be invalid due to refusal of consent.
 
You first must be a priest to confer sacraments. Second, if a person has been baptised in any Christian faith they cannot be baptised again. They may be blessed. As for an adult, other than for the annointing of the sick, they should have mental and physical competence to choose to be baptised voluntarily.

I would suggest you contact a priest.
 
Kindnessmatters said:
You first must be a priest to confer sacraments.
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This is incorrect. In an emergency, baptism may be administered by anyone. They don’t even have to be Catholic. This is why we accept as valid baptisms done in Protestant denominations, provided they use water and the Trinitarian formula.
 
It would not matter too much, because it is not the external baptism Mormon ritual that does the conversion, but rather the internal disposition.

Even if he is not baptized, nothing prevents others from praying for his soul and offering Mass for him.
 
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