Birth Certificate Required to Schedule Baptism?

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amw52095

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Our parish requires a birth certificate to schedule an infant Baptism (which can take 2-4+ weeks to obtain). Then once you schedule, there is another roughly 5 week wait to have your child baptized (due to the waitlist). We have always wanted our children to be baptized within the first few weeks of life (as soon as possible) and find the 2+ month delay to be concerning.

We have talked to the parish, but they insist that a legal document is required to prove that the child is yours and to prove the child has been named by the parents. They will not accept the Hospital Verification of Birth Facts.

We are unable to find any backing for this requirement in our diocese’s guidelines, the Code Canon Law, or in the CCC. Additionally, we had our first child baptized at a different parish (before we moved) and they never asked for a birth certificate at all. We even got to schedule well before our child was born.

Is this a legitimate requirement? Any guidance is appreciated. Thank you and God Bless.
 
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That seems a very strange requirement. Since a birth certificate obviously can’t be issued until the baby is born, it means parishioners are prohibited from scheduling a baptism in advance. Surely that can’t be right, can it?
 
amw52095 said:
Our parish requires a birth certificate to even schedule a Baptism (which can take 2-4+ weeks to obtain). Then once you schedule, there is another roughly 5 week wait to have your child baptized (due to the waitlist). We have always wanted our children to be baptized within the first few weeks of life (as soon as possible) and find the 2+ month delay to be concerning.

We have talked to the parish, but they insist that a legal document is required to prove that the child is yours and to prove the child has been named by the parents. They will not accept the Hospital Verification of Birth Facts.

We are unable to find any backing for this requirement in our diocese’s guidelines, the Code Canon Law, or in the CCC. Additionally, we had our first child baptized at a different parish (before we moved) and they never asked for a birth certificate at all. We even got to schedule well before our child was born.

Is this a legitimate requirement? Any guidance is appreciated. Thank you and God Bless.
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Do you know if this parish has been in some kind of trouble over infant baptisms? I’m not saying that it was the church’s fault or that the church did/is doing anything "“wrong.” But is it possible…maybe something to do with illegal immigration? Is the church being “watched” by the local police?
 
Peeps said:
But is it possible…maybe something to do with illegal immigration? Is the church being “watched” by the local police?
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It wouldn’t matter is parents were legal or illegal immigrants, or whether the child were an immigrant or native born. It’s not even relevant to baptism.

And why would the local police be watching a church for baptisms?
 
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It has been a while since we Baptized our kids, but for my first one which was baptized in Italy the parish required that both the parents and the godparents go through a preparation/formation on the duties and expectations the Church wanted from us. It took a couple of weeks to complete.
The priest was on top of the game, as soon as he learned of a new born he would come knocking to inquire “When can we expect to baptize this child?”
And this was a tiny town in the north of Italy.

Peace!
 
1ke said:
And why would the local police be watching a church for baptisms?
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It might not be baptisms. It might be something else. Just a thought as to why the church is being so hyper-careful–something to do with the local law enforcement.
 
No, I do not believe so. They only indicated it was needed as legal evidence to prove that 1)the child is ours and 2)had been legally named. I’ve never known this to be a requirement before, and am not sure where it is coming from.
 
Would the “receipt “ they give you at the hospital that you had a baby and registered them for a birth certificate work?
 
You said the parish told you things; have you spoken to the pastor?
 
Our parish requires the birth certificate also. It is to ensure the parents are the parents and that the child is baptized in their legal name.

Not everything has to be according to canon law or official.
 
Is this in the US or a different country? Seems to me that even a birth certificate couldn’t by itself prove that the child was actually the couple’s unless the couple’s own identification was also checked, which you didn’t indicate.
 
amw52095 said:
Additionally, we had our first child baptized at a different parish (before we moved) and they never asked for a birth certificate at all. We even got to schedule well before our child was born.
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Same diocese or different one? If same diocese, same bishop or different one?
 
The only reasons I can see a parish or diocese doing this is:
  1. if they had an issue with grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc baptizing babies against the parents’ wishes.
  2. if they have an issue with child trafficking (which I HOPE would make the news)
 
It is a requirement where I live abroad. Parents have to present their their DNI( our identity document) as the baby’s( which we receive here on leaving hospital.)
Our diocese requests presenting them in person before the baptism,
If it helps, our third one caught some bronchial disease so her baptism had to wait for a while.And it went beautifully all the same.And we were grateful she was in good health again.
 
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Our parish tried this with our seventh baby. We just said “sure, we will bring it to the baptism”. But we didn’t receive it for six weeks. I still haven’t given it to the parish and it’s been over a year. Nor will they probably ever ask for it. I’d be tempted, if the Church was stubborn about my babies soul and baptism in a time of pandemic to make the argument that an emergency baptism was warranted and film myself doing it to present to the Parish as proof of valid form. But again, I’d be tempted. I’d have contacted the priest and if necessary the bishop. Or another priest for help. I doubt it would come to that.
 
B. Basic Guidelines and Information for Infant (to include young children) Baptism (Code of Canon Law, cc. 867-868; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1251)

Parents are responsible for bringing their child to the Sacrament of Baptism as soon after birth as possible. Except in case of necessity, the church is the usual place of baptism.

In order that a child be baptized, it is necessary that the parents consent, or at least one of them, or someone legally standing in their place, and that there is reasonable hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic Faith.

GODPARENTS: A person may only have one or two godparents (also called sponsors); if two are chosen, they must be male and female.

In order for someone to be eligible as a godparent they must be chosen by the parents, have the ability and the intention to fulfill the role, be at least 16 years of age, and be a confirmed Roman Catholic, who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist, is leading a life in harmony with the Catholic Faith (including Marriage) and will be a good role model for the one being baptized, and be neither the father nor the mother of the child.

A baptized person who belongs to another Christian community may be admitted only as a “Christian witness” (not a godparent) provided that there is at least one Roman Catholic godparent who fulfills the above criteria. A non-baptized person cannot be a witness (Code of Canon Law, cc. 872-874; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1255).
 
It’s my recollection that we were asked to provide a birth certificate when our children were baptized. I don’t recall if it was required before prep-classes or scheduling a date for the baptism

I believe the birth certificate is just a simple way for office staff to establish the parental/child relationship. Since such proof is asked of those who are not well known to the staff and/or pastor, it is required of everyone so as not to be discriminatory.
 
The diocesan policy here says:
Baptismal records policy:
A government issued birth certificate is to be used as
supporting documentation for the baptismal record. If the government issued birth certificate is not possible to obtain, the hospital record can be used to verify the date of birth and parents names.

Entering information into the baptismal register based on verbal statements alone is not allowed.

The parents must present a government issued birth certificate or legal adoption record as supporting documentation for the baptismal record. The information provided in the government issued birth certificate or legal adoption record regarding the birth and adopted or surrogate parents is to be recorded in the notations.
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This shows how widely things vary in different locations.

In this parish we’ve never required a birth certificate. In fact, in this province, until 20 years ago the priests were usually the ones who submitted the information to Vital Statistics. And it wasn’t rare to get a call from Vital Statistics to check a spelling or a date.
 
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