Can a person be baptized before birth?

[zro_x]

If so, under what circumstances? Maybe if they are unexpected to survive delivery?

 

[humbleseeker]

Nope
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[HomeschoolDad]

If the womb were opened, such as to perform prenatal surgery on a fetus — that does happen sometimes — certainly the baby could be baptized if death were feared. Here is an article referring to the practice:

https://jimmyakin.com/2009/06/in-utero-baptism.html

 

[MockSock]

My godfather baptised his stillborn son - I don’t know if that was valid, though.

 

[Brian_K]

His faith, trust and strength inspired me. Thank you for sharing this!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There is a saint who was baptized in utero because he was not expected to survive long enough to be born. Unfortunately I can’t remember which saint it was, though I remember reading about it. I think this also happened a few centuries ago. In those days it might have been believed that a near-term baby who did not live long enough to be baptized might not go to heaven, although the Church did not officially teach that. I don’t think doctors would do that practice today.

 

[poche]

Could it have been St Nonatus?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Good guess but I don’t think so. The mother of the saint in question did not die, and he was in fact born normally and lived. I’ll have to do some research and figure out who it was.

Edited to add, I found it. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was baptized in the womb because his life was in danger.

Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, confessor - June 21, 2016 - Liturgical Calendar

St. Aloysius Gonzaga's outstanding quality was his radiant purity and the Church praises this perfect innocence with the words,

www.catholicculture.org

In 16th-century Italy this was a common practice. Midwives were supposed to do it if there wasn’t a priest around. They used a syringe to do it.

 

[Phemie]

Good guess but I don’t think so. The mother of the saint in question did not die, and he was in fact born normally and lived. I’ll have to do some research and figure out who it was.

Edited to add, I found it. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was baptized in the womb because his life was in danger.

Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, confessor - June 21, 2016 - Liturgical Calendar | Catholic Culture

In 16th-century Italy this was a common practice. Midwives were supposed to do it if there wasn’t a priest around. They used a syringe to do it.

I remember back in high school, coming across an operations manual, so to speak, from the hospital in my town. Originally built and run by the Filles de Jésus, the focus was on running a Catholic hospital. One of the instructions contained within was the proper way to administer a baptism in utero.

 

[MockSock]

O wow no way! The parish I attended as a kid, and still attend when I’m visiting my parents’, is dedicated to St. Aloysius Gonzaga. I never knew this though (at least I don’t remember being told it). Do you know if he was conditionally baptised after he was born?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

He probably wasn’t conditionally baptized. They probably considered him baptized already when he was born.
Like I said this was a common practice for babies in Italy at the time he was born. The Church stopped doing it later on. One of the arguments against it they give is that the water isn’t pure water by the time it reaches the baby. I’m sure another concern is that it really isn’t healthy to be squirting water into the womb when you’re pregnant, and other stuff that might work better is not water and thus disallowed. Medical science had not reached the point back then to understand all this stuff.