Can an unconscious person be baptized in an emergency?

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Hi everyone. Can an unbaptized person be baptized in an emergency? What about if it is known that they intended to be baptized in the future? 🤷:confused:
 
Holly3278 said:
Hi everyone. Can an unbaptized person be baptized in an emergency? What about if it is known that they intended to be baptized in the future? 🤷:confused:
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Yes, in an emergency, one who expressed a desire to be baptized can and should be baptized, whether conscious or not; in fact in danger-of-death anyone who knows how to do a baptism has an obligation to do so.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Yes, in an emergency, one who expressed a desire to be baptized can and should be baptized, whether conscious or not; in fact in danger-of-death anyone who knows how to do a baptism has an obligation to do so.
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So what about if the unconscious person has never expressed a desire to be baptized in the past? 🤷:confused:

Thank you Fr. David.
 
Holly3278 said:
So what about if the unconscious person has never expressed a desire to be baptized in the past? 🤷:confused:

Thank you Fr. David.
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That realy depends upon the person and the situation.

If the person is in imminent danger of death–in other words, that person will be dead in a few minutes and this is certain, then one should do the baptism unless he knows that the person would outright reject being baptised. If that person has expressed any desire whatsoever for baptism, even the slightest interest in the Christian faith, then in imminent danger of death, one would have an obligation to do so.

If the person is unconscious, one should wait until the patient/victim is conscious and ask the question.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hi everyone. Can an unbaptized person be baptized in an emergency? What about if it is known that they intended to be baptized in the future? 🤷:confused:
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If it seems reasonable that they are going to die and to your knowledge have not expressed in any way that they do not want to be Baptized or that they do not believe in Christ. Yes, the person should be Baptized, conditinally, if you do not know if they have been Baptized before.A Baby can be Baptized if in danger of death even without the parents knowledge, but not if the parents object.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
If it seems reasonable that they are going to die and to your knowledge have not expressed in any way that they do not want to be Baptized or that they do not believe in Christ. Yes, the person should be Baptized, conditinally, if you do not know if they have been Baptized before.A Baby can be Baptized if in danger of death even without the parents knowledge, but not if the parents object.
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In imminent danger of death, an infant can be baptised even if the parents do object (c. 868.2)
 
FrDavid96 said:
In imminent danger of death, an infant can be baptised even if the parents do object (c. 868.2)
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You got me. I guess I’m getting rusty. I wonder why I thought that if the parents (both) objected even after you tried to convince them of the necessity, you were obligated to accept their wishes???
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
You got me. I guess I’m getting rusty. I wonder why I thought that if the parents (both) objected even after you tried to convince them of the necessity, you were obligated to accept their wishes???
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It’s the “danger of death” that trumps all else. If the baby is healthy, there’s at least some hope that the child might be baptised someday, but in true danger of death parents who choose not to have the baby baptised are not acting in the child’s best interest, so that overrides even their parental authority.

And by the way, I did look it up before I started typing just to be sure, so I did cheat just a bit.
 
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