Repentance is required of those who have committed personal sin. Infants have not. Personal sin requires at least some measure of “voluntariness.” Infants do not yet have the faculty of reason, and so do not have the “voluntariness” to become culpable for personal sin.
Nonetheless, infants are not born automatically “holy” by natural generation. God must supernaturall intervene to make us holy. God Himself, by special extra-sacramental intervention, can make them holy within the the womb (which has happened with John the Baptist, and Mary at least). Normatively, this is not the case. At least we cannot presume this to be the case. How would one be sure without a revelation from God himself?
So, we baptize infants because they too need God’s grace, that they may born from above. Baptism is the surest means given to the Church by God which gives us moral certainty that they are indeed justified/regenerated in Christ.
**The Catholic understanding of Baptism is that, not only does it welcome one into the Christian community in a formal way, but there is an actual transformation in the soul. Baptism begins one’s road toward sanctification and salvation. As Peter says, “Baptism saves you.” What he means is that at the moment one is baptized validly, the stain of original sin is taken from the soul due to an infusion of sanctifying grace. It is this grace which leaves an indelible mark upon the person.
We are ‘saved’ by grace alone. We are justified in the sight of God by our charity (works). **
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