Infant baptism -father of the baby is a minor, have a question

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rayne89

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My bestfriend’s daughter is 17 and just recently had a baby out of wedlock. The father is 16. He has been raised Catholic but rarely attends Mass anymore. His mother still is a practicing Catholic. The boy’s mother is interested in having the baby baptised. My bestfriend is protestant as is her daughter but they have no objection to this. Would the church even consider doing this given the fact that the father of the baby doesn’t really practice his faith anymore and the mother has no clue about Catholicism or any intention of converting -at least at this point.

In all honesty I would love to see this baby baptised - I even volunteered to be Godmother should it happen. But I believe the church only does baptism when there is a reasonable expectation that the child will be brought up Catholic. At this point the father is going through that lovely teenage phase of not seeing the relevance of the Mass or religion in general :rolleyes: .

I know that they will have to speak to a priest but I was wondering if you had any thoughts/opinions on the matter.
 
rayne89 said:
My bestfriend’s daughter is 17 and just recently had a baby out of wedlock. The father is 16. He has been raised Catholic but rarely attends Mass anymore. His mother still is a practicing Catholic. The boy’s mother is interested in having the baby baptised. My bestfriend is protestant as is her daughter but they have no objection to this. Would the church even consider doing this given the fact that the father of the baby doesn’t really practice his faith anymore and the mother has no clue about Catholicism or any intention of converting -at least at this point.

In all honesty I would love to see this baby baptised - I even volunteered to be Godmother should it happen. But I believe the church only does baptism when there is a reasonable expectation that the child will be brought up Catholic. At this point the father is going through that lovely teenage phase of not seeing the relevance of the Mass or religion in general :rolleyes: .

I know that they will have to speak to a priest but I was wondering if you had any thoughts/opinions on the matter.
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We have some friends who had a similar situation. Child’s mother and father (not married) --non practicing Catholics. Our friend (grandmother of the girl) spoke to the priest and he suggested–if the mother of the child had no objections to the child being baptized and raised Catholic–and the grandmother was willing to take the responsiblity for the childs religious education it could be done.

The priest required a letter signed by the childs mother authorizing the grandmother to have baby baptized and giving her the responsibility for the childs future Catholic education.
 
Here, the priest would want to sit down with the young parents and the grandparents, to ascertain a reasonable expectation that the baby would be raised Catholic. However, I can think of two instances right off the top of my head where the teen mother was not Catholic, but where the baby was baptized Catholic. One child is being raised Catholic; but the other, though baptized Catholic, is now being raised Lutheran- Lutherans do not have a problem with Catholic baptism. Dad has yet to grow up (at 24), and Mom got tired of schlepping the child to Dad’s parish, then turning around and going back to her own church.
 
Well there is some hope then. I think the mother will still want to teach her child about her faith -they do bring the baby to their protestant church. I think their idea is that the child learn the faith of both the parents (or in this case the grandparent since the father seems to lax in his faith right now.) I know this is not ideal but in my heart I feel it’s better than the child not knowing about the Catholic faith at all. I am very close to the family - I would lve to be an influence in this child learning about the Catholic faith. I fear if the priest denies the baptism they won’t understand and they will feel the baby has been some how rejected by the church. I hope not.
 
Well, if the mom is for it, and the grandmother is for it, and the dad won’t stnad in the way- have them call a priest.
 
My grand daughter was recently baptized. She was 7. Her mama ( my daughter) was raised in the Catholic faith, but no longer attended church. She and I attended a Baptism class and then my GD was baptized. The father wasn’t in the picture. I enrolled my GD in CCD classes and then her mama decided to take her back. My GD was living with me at the time. Now my GD doesn’t go to church or CCD classes. Shame isn’t it?
So I will pray for your friend.
Kathy
 
Just wanted to give you an update. Today my bestfriend’s daughter ask me if my husband and I would be her baby’s godparents. The baptism is planned for September and I am just thrilled beyond belief.
:extrahappy:
 
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