Can a sick infant be baptized if the parents aren't Catholic?

[KEC85]

I am a Christian who has wanted to become Catholic for a while but, for reasons which I won’t go into right now, has not taken the final step and actually become Catholic. I believe and agree with the teachings of the Church.

My baby has some medical issues which are serious but are not considered “life threatening” at the moment. One of his medical conditions requires major surgery in the very near future. Surgery is not without risks, especially when being performed on an infant. I’m very concerned that if something were to go wrong during surgery, and he were to die, he would die without having been baptized.

I know that anyone who is in danger of death may be baptized. But how is “in danger of death” defined? Would I be able to have my baby baptized before his surgery, even though it is very likely the surgery will go just fine and he won’t be in danger of death? Would a priest be able to baptize him?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Major surgery for an infant certainly can be considered just reason for an emergency baptism. Call a local priest or deacon, explain your situation, and ask that he baptize the baby immediately. Keep in mind that the priest or deacon will want some assurance that you intend to raise the baby Catholic. If you cannot in good conscience promise that at this time, then ask a minister from your Protestant denomination to baptize the baby if your denomination offers infant baptism. If it does not – and if you cannot in good conscience ask a Catholic priest or deacon to do so – then you can baptize your child yourself by using water and the trinitarian formula. (“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”) At some later time, should you choose to become Catholic, you can ask a priest to perform a conditional baptism for your child that will supply for any possible defects in the baptism you performed and will start a sacramental record for the child. (The formula in the case of conditional baptism goes, “If you are not baptized, I baptize you…”)