Can I still be baptized?

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My girlfriend and I have decided to get married in a Catholic Church. She is born and baptized as Roman Catholic whilst I was born and baptized Christian. As part of our requirements for marriage in our city in the Philippines, we are required to attend a confirmation prior the wedding. And a baptismal certificate is required in order to receive the confirmation. My girlfriend has no problem submitting her baptismal certificate, whereas I have nothing to show.

My question to all devout and active Catholics (especially from the Philippines) in this forum is, and I do hope I can count on all your help, can I still be baptized in the Catholic Church even if I’m already 28 years old? If so, what are the procedures and requirements for such.

My girlfriend and I have always dreamt of having a Catholic wedding. And I hope there’s a way that I can still be baptized.
 
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I’m not sure how it works in your diocese, but in my case, when I entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, I had no official record or document of my baptism. I only had to submit an affidavit (a letter) from someone who recalled the baptism.

Talk to your priest and dioceses.

Good Luck!
 
Swift said:
can I still be baptized in the Catholic Church even if I’m already 28 years old?
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No – you’re already baptized! In your case, you’ll enter into full communion with the Church.
If so, what are the procedures and requirements for such.
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Make an appointment to meet with your local parish priest and explain your situation. He’ll help you with the process!
 
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No – you’re already baptized! In your case, you’ll enter into full communion with the Church.
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I’ll try and talk to the parish priest tomorrow about this. Thank you! 🙂
 
I think you and your girlfriend need to sit down and talk to the pastor at the Catholic Church.

First, if you are validly baptized, it is not possible to be baptized again. If you don’t have a certificate-- and that is common in non-Catholic churches-- then you provide an affidavit of baptism signed by a witness to the baptism (you can sign if you were baptized after you were old enough to remember it).

Secondly, you do not have to become a Catholic to marry a Catholic. You certainly can, but it’s not required. And you would not be confirmed a Catholic unless you were converting.

Third, if you are going to become a Catholic, there is a period of preparation for that called RCIA. Profession of faith/reception into full communion with the Church and Confirmation happen together for those being received into the Church.

Perhaps the marriage prep people are under the mistaken impression you are a Catholic and that is why they are asking for your sacramental records?

Anyway, you need to sit down with the priest preparing your for marriage and talk through everything so there is no confusion.
 
Swift said:
My girlfriend and I have decided to get married in a Catholic Church. She is born and baptized as Roman Catholic whilst I was born and baptized Christian. As part of our requirements for marriage in our city in the Philippines, we are required to attend a confirmation prior the wedding. And a baptismal certificate is required in order to receive the confirmation. My girlfriend has no problem submitting her baptismal certificate, whereas I have nothing to show.

My question to all devout and active Catholics (especially from the Philippines) in this forum is, and I do hope I can count on all your help, can I still be baptized in the Catholic Church even if I’m already 28 years old? If so, what are the procedures and requirements for such.

My girlfriend and I have always dreamt of having a Catholic wedding. And I hope there’s a way that I can still be baptized.
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First off, your age is not relevant.
May I ask which Protestant denomination you were baptised in. This would tell us if your baptism is considered valid by the Catholic Church.
I was a Methodist whose baptism is accepted as valid by the Catholic Church. That meant I went through a formal acceptance into the Church while those in my RCIA group who were non-Christians were baptised.
Also, you should contact the Church in which you were baptised and ask them to let you have a copy of your baptismal certificate.
If you were baptised in a Church whose baptism is considered valid but cannot prove you were baptised then you would be conditionally baptised into the Catholic Church.
 
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So here is my understanding (anyone correct if wrong). If you were baptised in the name of the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” then that would be valid baptism. Now since you don’t have records of the baptism they might do a conditional baptism. One thing you should do is talk to your priest to see how he wants to approach it.
 
Lysander said:
Now since you don’t have records of the baptism they might do a conditional baptism.
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The OP can submit an affidavit of baptism.

Conditional baptism is only conferred for specific reasons, not simply because the baptizing church/party doesn’t maintain records.

Can. 869 §1. If there is a doubt whether a person has been baptized or whether baptism was conferred validly and the doubt remains after a serious investigation, baptism is to be conferred conditionally.

§2. Those baptized in a non-Catholic ecclesial community must not be baptized conditionally unless, after an examination of the matter and the form of the words used in the conferral of baptism and a consideration of the intention of the baptized adult and the minister of the baptism, a serious reason exists to doubt the validity of the baptism.

§3. If in the cases mentioned in §§1 and 2 the conferral or validity of the baptism remains doubtful, baptism is not to be conferred until after the doctrine of the sacrament of baptism is explained to the person to be baptized, if an adult, and the reasons of the doubtful validity of the baptism are explained to the person or, in the case of an infant, to the parents.
 
The process is to contact your parish priest and pursue RCIA, and you will need to verify if your baptism was valid, if that is the case, then you will simply need to be brought into full communion and receive First Communion and Confirmation. If it is invalid then part of RCIA will include your baptism. This all said, if the only reason is to become Catholic is because of your girlfriend, then this could invalidate any sacraments, and you should simply seek an indulgence from your bishop for her to marry you, and (provided he grants it) you could get married without converting, the process for this would be through your parish priest.
 
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