Implicit Baptism of desire

[Ron_Conte]

The classical example of a Baptism of desire is the catechumen who is studying in preparation for Baptism, but dies prior to being baptized. Such a person had an explicit desire for Baptism, and this desire is sufficient to obtain sanctifying grace and salvation. Persons who do not die in a state of sanctifying grace do not obtain eternal life in Heaven.

However, a Baptism of desire may also occur implicitly. For example, prior to the establishment of the Sacrament of Baptism, salvation was still possible because persons could implicitly desire Baptism by an act of true spiritual love of God and neighbor in full cooperation with grace. The Jewish Patriarchs believed in God, and loved God, and this act of love in cooperation with grace allows the person to enter the state of sanctifying grace, and hopefully to die in a state of grace, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

Similarly today, a person who does not realize that the Catholic Church is the Ark of salvation for the whole world might possibly reject Catholicism explicitly, without committing an actual mortal sin (due to a lack of full knowledge that rejection of Catholicism is gravely immoral). And such a person might, at some time, implicitly desire Baptism, by a true spiritual love for God, and thereby obtain sanctifying grace and become a member of the Church, at least implicitly.

Even an atheist or an agnostic might possibly obtain sanctifying grace, and eventually be saved, despite rejecting God and the Christian Faith, due to an act of true spiritual love of neighbor sufficient to obtain sanctifying grace and to make them an implicit member of the Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

An act of true spiritual love in full cooperation with grace can allow a person to obtain sanctifying grace in an implicit Baptism of desire, and thereby obtain salvation. The members of the Church include not only those persons who have received the formal Sacrament of Baptism, but also those mystical members who are united to the Church by the state of sanctifying grace obtained through an implicit Baptism of desire.

 

[rwoehmke]

Excellent statement on the meaning of Baptism of Desire. Good work Ron!

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

The classical example of a Baptism of desire is the catechumen who is studying in preparation for Baptism, but dies prior to being baptized. Such a person had an explicit desire for Baptism, and this desire is sufficient to obtain sanctifying grace and salvation. Persons who do not die in a state of sanctifying grace do not obtain eternal life in Heaven.

However, a Baptism of desire may also occur implicitly. For example, prior to the establishment of the Sacrament of Baptism, salvation was still possible because persons could implicitly desire Baptism by an act of true spiritual love of God and neighbor in full cooperation with grace. The Jewish Patriarchs believed in God, and loved God, and this act of love in cooperation with grace allows the person to enter the state of sanctifying grace, and hopefully to die in a state of grace, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

Similarly today, a person who does not realize that the Catholic Church is the Ark of salvation for the whole world might possibly reject Catholicism explicitly, without committing an actual mortal sin (due to a lack of full knowledge that rejection of Catholicism is gravely immoral). And such a person might, at some time, implicitly desire Baptism, by a true spiritual love for God, and thereby obtain sanctifying grace and become a member of the Church, at least implicitly.

Even an atheist or an agnostic might possibly obtain sanctifying grace, and eventually be saved, despite rejecting God and the Christian Faith, due to an act of true spiritual love of neighbor sufficient to obtain sanctifying grace and to make them an implicit member of the Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

An act of true spiritual love in full cooperation with grace can allow a person to obtain sanctifying grace in an implicit Baptism of desire, and thereby obtain salvation. The members of the Church include not only those persons who have received the formal Sacrament of Baptism, but also those mystical members who are united to the Church by the state of sanctifying grace obtained through an implicit Baptism of desire.

I would say that God can act outside of His Sacraments, and can supply the grace of Baptism without Sacramental Baptism. Implicit desire is more alone the lines of Invincible ignorance.

 

[Ron_Conte]

I would say that God can act outside of His Sacraments, and can supply the grace of Baptism without Sacramental Baptism. Implicit desire is more alone the lines of Invincible ignorance.

Invincible ignorance is a lack of knowledge in the intellect.
Implicit desire for Baptism is an act of the will.
An absence in the intellect is not equivalent to an act of the will.

When a person rejects the Catholic Faith, he commits an objectively grave sin. But if he has invincible ignorance that the Catholic Faith teaches the truth, then his sin is not an actual mortal sin. This allows him to still obtain sanctifying grace by implicit desire for the Baptism that he has explicitly rejected.

However, he still must have that implicit desire. It is not sufficient for him to merely have invincible ignorance in rejecting Catholicism (or Christianity). He must also choose an act of love in full cooperation with grace.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Invincible ignorance is a lack of knowledge in the intellect.
Implicit desire for Baptism is an act of the will.
An absence in the intellect is not equivalent to an act of the will.

When a person rejects the Catholic Faith, he commits an objectively grave sin. But if he has invincible ignorance that the Catholic Faith teaches the truth, then his sin is not an actual mortal sin. This allows him to still obtain sanctifying grace by implicit desire for the Baptism that he has explicitly rejected.

However, he still must have that implicit desire. It is not sufficient for him to merely have invincible ignorance in rejecting Catholicism (or Christianity). He must also choose an act of love in full cooperation with grace.

To me that does not mesh. He can not explicitly reject (God, Christ, Baptism, etc.) and still have an implicit desire and obtain Sanctifying Grace. Invincible Ignorance implies that he does not know or understand, but also does not reject.

 

[Ron_Conte]

Pope John Paul II taught that some persons who outwardly reject the Church can still be implicit members:

“Since Christ brings about salvation through his Mystical Body, which is the Church, the way of salvation is connected essentially with the Church. The axiom ‘extra ecclesiam nulla salus’ – ‘outside the Church there is no salvation’ – stated by St. Cyprian (Epist. 73, 21; PL 1123 AB), belongs to the Christian tradition. It was included in the Fourth Lateran Council (DS 802), in the Bull ‘Unam Sanctam’ of Boniface VIII (DS 870) and the Council of Florence (Decretum pro Jacobitis, DS 1351). The axiom means that for those who are not ignorant of the fact that the Church has been established as necessary by God through Jesus Christ, there is an obligation to enter the Church and remain in her in order to attain salvation (cf. LG 14). For those, however, who have not received the Gospel proclamation, as I wrote in the Encyclical ‘Redemptoris Missio,’ salvation is accessible in mysterious ways, inasmuch as divine grace is granted to them by virtue of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, without external membership in the Church, but nonetheless always in relation to her (cf. Redemptoris Missio, n. 10). It is a mysterious relationship. It is mysterious for those who receive the grace, because they do not know the Church and sometimes even outwardly reject her. It is also mysterious in itself, because it is linked to the saving mystery of grace, which includes an essential reference to the Church the Savior founded. In order to take effect, saving grace requires acceptance, cooperation, a ‘yes’ to the divine gift. This acceptance is, at least implicitly, oriented to Christ and the Church. Thus it can also be said that ‘sine ecclesia nulla salus’ – ‘without the Church there is no salvation.’ Belonging to the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, however implicitly and indeed mysteriously, is an essential condition for salvation.”
(Pope John Paul II, All Salvation Comes through Christ, General Audience, 31 May 1995.)

Therefore, atheists, agnotics, Jews, Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, believers in any religion or no religion, can possibly be saved by an implicit desire for Baptism, despite their outward rejection of the Church.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Pope John Paul II taught that some persons who outwardly reject the Church can still be implicit members:

“Since Christ brings about salvation through his Mystical Body, which is the Church, the way of salvation is connected essentially with the Church. The axiom ‘extra ecclesiam nulla salus’ – ‘outside the Church there is no salvation’ – stated by St. Cyprian (Epist. 73, 21; PL 1123 AB), belongs to the Christian tradition. It was included in the Fourth Lateran Council (DS 802), in the Bull ‘Unam Sanctam’ of Boniface VIII (DS 870) and the Council of Florence (Decretum pro Jacobitis, DS 1351). The axiom means that for those who are not ignorant of the fact that the Church has been established as necessary by God through Jesus Christ, there is an obligation to enter the Church and remain in her in order to attain salvation (cf. LG 14). For those, however, who have not received the Gospel proclamation, as I wrote in the Encyclical ‘Redemptoris Missio,’ salvation is accessible in mysterious ways, inasmuch as divine grace is granted to them by virtue of Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, without external membership in the Church, but nonetheless always in relation to her (cf. Redemptoris Missio, n. 10). It is a mysterious relationship. It is mysterious for those who receive the grace, because they do not know the Church and sometimes even outwardly reject her. It is also mysterious in itself, because it is linked to the saving mystery of grace, which includes an essential reference to the Church the Savior founded. In order to take effect, saving grace requires acceptance, cooperation, a ‘yes’ to the divine gift. This acceptance is, at least implicitly, oriented to Christ and the Church. Thus it can also be said that ‘sine ecclesia nulla salus’ – ‘without the Church there is no salvation.’ Belonging to the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, however implicitly and indeed mysteriously, is an essential condition for salvation.”
(Pope John Paul II, All Salvation Comes through Christ, General Audience, 31 May 1995.)

Therefore, atheists, agnotics, Jews, Muslims, non-Catholic Christians, believers in any religion or no religion, can possibly be saved by an implicit desire for Baptism, despite their outward rejection of the Church.

I agree, but this is a far narrower and limited view then what was posted in previous posts.

 

[Ron_Conte]

I agree, but this is a far narrower and limited view then what was posted in previous posts.

It is difficult to say what the extent of implicit Baptism of desire is, since this is hidden from us and known only to God. The mercy of God indicates that it is extensive, but the sinfulness of humanity indicates that it is limited. However, it is certainly possible for anyone to obtain salvation, if they cooperate fully with grace.

Moving on from the point about how extensive or limited this type of Baptism is, I’d like to consider what the act that obtains implicit Baptism is like.

“Above all, the state of grace is absolutely necessary at the moment of death without it salvation and supernatural happiness – the beatific vision of God – are impossible. An act of love is sufficient for the adult to obtain sanctifying grace and to supply the lack of baptism….”
(Pope Pius XII, Address to Midwives, 29 October 1951.)

Sanctifying grace gives the person the infused theological virtues of love, faith, hope. And all the commandments, and the whole moral law, are based on the love of God above all else, and the love of neighbor as self. So it makes sense that the act that obtains sanctifying grace in an implicit Baptism of desire would be an act of love.

However, this is not love as an emotion, nor is it a self-centered love of whatever we like or desire. To obtain sanctifying grace, this act of love must be true spiritual love, in full cooperation with grace. This love must be a selfless love of God and neighbor.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

It is difficult to say what the extent of implicit Baptism of desire is, since this is hidden from us and known only to God. The mercy of God indicates that it is extensive, but the sinfulness of humanity indicates that it is limited. However, it is certainly possible for anyone to obtain salvation, if they cooperate fully with grace.

Moving on from the point about how extensive or limited this type of Baptism is, I’d like to consider what the act that obtains implicit Baptism is like.

“Above all, the state of grace is absolutely necessary at the moment of death without it salvation and supernatural happiness – the beatific vision of God – are impossible. An act of love is sufficient for the adult to obtain sanctifying grace and to supply the lack of baptism….”
(Pope Pius XII, Address to Midwives, 29 October 1951.)

Sanctifying grace gives the person the infused theological virtues of love, faith, hope. And all the commandments, and the whole moral law, are based on the love of God above all else, and the love of neighbor as self. So it makes sense that the act that obtains sanctifying grace in an implicit Baptism of desire would be an act of love.

However, this is not love as an emotion, nor is it a self-centered love of whatever we like or desire. To obtain sanctifying grace, this act of love must be true spiritual love, in full cooperation with grace. This love must be a selfless love of God and neighbor.

Agree

 

[Rogerteder]

Invincible ignorance is a lack of knowledge in the intellect.
Implicit desire for Baptism is an act of the will.
An absence in the intellect is not equivalent to an act of the will.

When a person rejects the Catholic Faith, he commits an objectively grave sin. But if he has invincible ignorance that the Catholic Faith teaches the truth, then his sin is not an actual mortal sin. This allows him to still obtain sanctifying grace by implicit desire for the Baptism that he has explicitly rejected.

However, he still must have that implicit desire. It is not sufficient for him to merely have invincible ignorance in rejecting Catholicism (or Christianity). He must also choose an act of love in full cooperation with grace.

True true. I would also add that he must not have any other mortal sins on his soul unrelated to his ignorance. The road to salvation is narrow and few go down it. The road to damnation is wide, and many go down it.

 

[Ron_Conte]

True true. I would also add that he must not have any other mortal sins on his soul unrelated to his ignorance. The road to salvation is narrow and few go down it. The road to damnation is wide, and many go down it.

Everyone who dies unrepentant from one or more actual mortal sins will be judged by God and sent to Hell. Such persons have lost the state of sanctifying grace (if they ever had it) due to actual mortal sin. Repenance from all actual mortal sins is required for salvation.

Council of Florence: “But the souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go down straightaway to hell to be punished, but with unequal pains.”

Pope Benedict XII: “By this Constitution which is to remain in force for ever, we, with apostolic authority, define the following…. Moreover, we define that according to the general disposition of God, the souls of those who die in actual mortal sin go down into hell immediately after death and there suffer the pain of hell.”
(On the Beatific Vision of God)

 

[JVD]

Even an atheist or an agnostic might possibly obtain sanctifying grace, and eventually be saved, despite rejecting God and the Christian Faith, due to an act of true spiritual love of neighbor sufficient to obtain sanctifying grace and to make them an implicit member of the Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

“All things are possible for God” is a popular maxim. But the truth is that God can not do things that violate His nature. For example it is not possible for God to divide and conflict the Trinity against one, two or all of the Three Divine Persons. It is not possible for God to break His word since God is unchanging and pure truth. Another popular example is God could not conceive to create a weight so heavy that He could not lift it. I think I have shown here that there are definately some things that God can not do or will not do.

I think the above paragraph has a defect in reason. It attempts to divide Charity against itself. Charity is a supernatural virtue that is of God. Charity can not be changed or redefined since it is supernatural and eternal. Charity is defined as love for both God and neighbor. We **can not **divide God from man and have the same supernatural charity with only God or only man - we need both to still be able to call it charity. Supernatural charity is essential for gaining heaven. So it is impossible to gain heaven by only loving God or only loving neighbor. We must love both. This principal is seen and proved in the inseparable and eternal bond of God to humankind in the incarnate 2nd Person - Jesus Christ. Christ can not more be seperated from His Divinity than He can be seperated from his Humanity.

Ergo - it is insufficient to love God to the exclusion of humanity or vice versa and still gain sanctifying grace unless one explicitly also loves Jesus too as representative of both.

However, Jesus has identified personally with the poor, the downtrodden, the widow, the orphan and so on. So it may be possible to spiritually see “Christ” in such people and through such channels succeed in loving supernaturally and therefore gain supernatural charity implicitly. I would just be very careful to suggest that supernatural Charity can be subdivided.

James

 

[Ron_Conte]

The explicit true spiritual love of neighbor implicitly includes the love of God. Therefore, an atheist or agnostic can obtain the state of sanctifying grace by an act of true spiritual love of neighbor in full cooperation with the grace of God.

This supposes that his rejection or obstinate doubt about the existence of God is not an actual mortal sin (due to a substantial reduction of culpability from a lack of knowledge). If it is an actual mortal sin, then he must repent of that sin. His refusal to repent is an obstacle to his full cooperation with grace. On the other hand, repentance can be implicit.

 

[simple_soul]

Invincible ignorance is a lack of knowledge in the intellect.
Implicit desire for Baptism is an act of the will.
An absence in the intellect is not equivalent to an act of the will.

When a person rejects the Catholic Faith, he commits an objectively grave sin. But if he has invincible ignorance that the Catholic Faith teaches the truth, then his sin is not an actual mortal sin. This allows him to still obtain sanctifying grace by implicit desire for the Baptism that he has explicitly rejected.

However, he still must have that implicit desire. It is not sufficient for him to merely have invincible ignorance in rejecting Catholicism (or Christianity). He must also choose an act of love in full cooperation with grace.

*Dear Ron,

I was searching this web-site for some information and stumbled upon this thread. I was wondering, could “invincible ignorance” be applied to the unbaptized infants? If you do not mind answering this could you please help me to understand how they could or could not be saved through it?

Thank you for your time,

Simple soul*

 

[Ron_Conte]

Dear Ron,

I was searching this web-site for some information and stumbled upon this thread. I was wondering, could “invincible ignorance” be applied to the unbaptized infants? If you do not mind answering this could you please help me to understand how they could or could not be saved through it?

Thank you for your time,

Simple soul

The question of the salvation of prenatals and unbaptized infants, who die at that young age, has not been answered definitively by the Magisterium. I am giving my theological opinion.

In order to be saved, a person must die in sanctifying grace. Invincible ignorance applies to an act that a person commits, which is objectively a sin, but which the person does not know to be sinful – and then only if the lack of knowledge is not culpable (i.e. they could not have known). This does not apply to prenatals and infants, since they have not committed any personal sin in ignorance or otherwise.

There are three types of Baptism:

1. the formal Sacrament of Baptism
2. Baptism of desire
3. Baptism of blood

Unbaptized prenatals and infants have not received the formal Sacrament. Neither do they have any desire, implicit or explicit, which can be sufficient for them to receive sanctifying grace. So all that is left is the Baptism of blood.

My opinion is that their deaths at such a young age unites them the Christ on the Cross, who is the source of all grace and all Baptism, so that they receive sanctifying grace at least in the last moment of life (perhaps sooner). This would be classified as a Baptism of blood.

It is possible to receive sanctifying grace even in the womb, as evidenced by the examples of Mary and John the Baptist, who received sanctifying grace, without formal Baptism, in the womb. Therefore, prenatals who die in the womb can possibly also receive sanctifying grace.

 

[simple_soul]

Dear Ron,
Thank you for helping,

The question of the salvation of prenatals and unbaptized infants, who die at that young age, has not been answered definitively by the Magisterium. I am giving my theological opinion.

I completely understand.

In order to be saved, a person must die in sanctifying grace. Invincible ignorance applies to an act that a person commits, which is objectively a sin, but which the person does not know to be sinful – and then only if the lack of knowledge is not culpable (i.e. they could not have known). This does not apply to prenatals and infants, since they have not committed any personal sin in ignorance or otherwise.

Thank you for clarifying this, I believe it helps.

There are three types of Baptism:

1. the formal Sacrament of Baptism
2. Baptism of desire
3. Baptism of blood

Unbaptized prenatals and infants have not received the formal Sacrament. Neither do they have any desire, implicit or explicit, which can be sufficient for them to receive sanctifying grace. So all that is left is the Baptism of blood.

My opinion is that their deaths at such a young age unites them the Christ on the Cross, who is the source of all grace and all Baptism, so that they receive sanctifying grace at least in the last moment of life (perhaps sooner). This would be classified as a Baptism of blood.

It is possible to receive sanctifying grace even in the womb, as evidenced by the examples of Mary and John the Baptist, who received sanctifying grace, without formal Baptism, in the womb. Therefore, prenatals who die in the womb can possibly also receive sanctifying grace.

*More thoughts to pray and ponder about. Thank you for sharing.