OMG, I was baptized Catholic?

[PbloPicasso]

That is not true. Anyone can contact the parish where they were baptized and request a Certificate of Baptism. Any time a parish issues a certificate, it’s an ‘original’ as long as it’s signed and has the Parish Seal on it. The information it contains is copied from the Parish Register of Baptisms, a large book where the information about each baptism is recorded: the name of the baptized, date and place of birth, date of baptism, names of the parents and godparents and the name of the officiant at the baptism. There remains space to record Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders or Religious Profession, Decree of Nullity, Adoption, etc.

Parishes also have a Register of Confirmation and a Register of Marriage and may also have one for First Communion & Death although they aren’t required by Canon Law.

You’re right that the parish where you are baptized will become the repository for your sacramental record. If you are confirmed &/or married in another parish, that parish has a responsibility to inform the parish where you were baptized so that the information can be entered into your baptismal record. That’s usually done for marriage but some parishes are unfortunately not as diligent about forwarding information about confirmation, sometimes just because new staff aren’t informed that it has to be done.

I think you have misread something. I was “told” by a priest that the document I held was not acceptable that he had to obtain it from the parish himself. He was shocked that I had an original. Maybe he was mistaken.

 

[Like]

I think you have misread something. I was “told” by a priest that the document I held was not acceptable that he had to obtain it from the parish himself. He was shocked that I had an original. Maybe he was mistaken.

I think the priest was wrong. We had to get an original copy of our marriage certificate in order to have a 50th anniversary mass & I called the parish we were married in and they mailed it right out for a fee of $5 after the fact.

 

[PbloPicasso]

I think the priest was wrong. We had to get an original copy of our marriage certificate in order to have a 50th anniversary mass & I called the parish we were married in and they mailed it right out for a fee of $5 after the fact.

I was told that he had to be the one to do this. But then I suspect that for whatever reason he didn’t trust me. But that fits based on several conversations we had during the processing of my marriage convalidation. Everyone told me basically to blindly follow. I guess he didn’t like my remarkable story of what I experienced in the seminary and priest abuse. That would explain the over animated shock on his face as I told him my story. Interesting. I still keep in touch with him. Good to know who you can trust.

 

[Like]

I was told that he had to be the one to do this. But then I suspect that for whatever reason he didn’t trust me. But that fits based on several conversations we had during the processing of my marriage convalidation. Everyone told me basically to blindly follow. I guess he didn’t like my remarkable story of what I experienced in the seminary and priest abuse. That would explain the over animated shock on his face as I told him my story. Interesting. I still keep in touch with him. Good to know who you can trust.

If for any reason you need or want a original copy of a baptism, marriage, confirmation certificate just for your own records, give a call to the parish of your baptism. That is, if that parish is not the parish of the priest who told you this, & just inquire what such record can be sent to you.

 

[Phemie]

I think you have misread something. I was “told” by a priest that the document I held was not acceptable that he had to obtain it from the parish himself. He was shocked that I had an original. Maybe he was mistaken.

That may have been that priest’s personal preference but I worked as a parish secretary for 13 years and issued thousands of certificates to the persons who requested them, exactly as the Pastor had done before I started working there. I’ve always been able to get my own certificate and those of my children just by asking.

When parents present their children for First Communion &/or Confirmation we, of course, want to be sure they’ve been baptized so parents are instructed to obtain their Certificates if they weren’t baptized in our parish. Rarely do we contact the parish ourselves to obtain it.

When you get married it’s your responsibility to obtain a new Certificate of Baptism to show,

1. that you’ve been baptized,
2. that you’ve been confirmed, and
3. that there is no record of a marriage.

So an ‘original’ certificate would include different information at different points in your life. The one your parents are given at the time of your baptism is different from the one that would be issued for you to get married which would be different from the one you would get after your marriage.

 

[TrueLight]

Aloha TrueLight,

Would you mom know what island that would be? Or if she doesn’t want to talk about it, does the birth certificate have a hospital name or island name?

Congratulations on finding this! God bless!

Aloha, Like!

Well, yes, I know which island I’m from and the hospital name is even on the certificate, but considering the amount of natural disasters that have hit that island, I doubt very much I’ll find a copy.

 

[PbloPicasso]

That may have been that priest’s personal preference but I worked as a parish secretary for 13 years and issued thousands of certificates to the persons who requested them, exactly as the Pastor had done before I started working there. I’ve always been able to get my own certificate and those of my children just by asking.

When parents present their children for First Communion &/or Confirmation we, of course, want to be sure they’ve been baptized so parents are instructed to obtain their Certificates if they weren’t baptized in our parish. Rarely do we contact the parish ourselves to obtain it.

When you get married it’s your responsibility to obtain a new Certificate of Baptism to show,

1. that you’ve been baptized,
2. that you’ve been confirmed, and
3. that there is no record of a marriage.

So an ‘original’ certificate would include different information at different points in your life. The one your parents are given at the time of your baptism is different from the one that would be issued for you to get married which would be different from the one you would get after your marriage.

When the priest separated us for questioning my wife stopped him in the middle and said that it sounded like he was asking questions for a divorce and not marriage. He responded that he was collecting information in case an annulment would be sought later on by me. Both of us were offended and today we both joke about it by saying, “I guess you better contact Fr. ??? for those annulment papers”. Frankly, I was ashamed of being Catholic that moment. We both came out of the Church of Christ where divorce is not an option and remain in communion with God.

 

[Phemie]

When the priest separated us for questioning my wife stopped him in the middle and said that it sounded like he was asking questions for a divorce and not marriage. He responded that he was collecting information in case an annulment would be sought later on by me. Both of us were offended and today we both joke about it by saying, “I guess you better contact Fr. ??? for those annulment papers”. Frankly, I was ashamed of being Catholic that moment. We both came out of the Church of Christ where divorce is not an option and remain in communion with God.

The questions asked to each party separately, under oath, in the Prenuptial Interview are designed to insure that a marriage can be celebrated validly.

Are you free to marry?
Are you coming to this of your own free will?
As far as you know are you capable of having intercourse?
Do you intend that marriage be for life?
Do you intend to be faithful?
Do you intend to have children if that is God’s will?

“No” to any of the above means no possibility of a valid marriage.

 

[TrueLight]

Update: I spoke to my mom and asked her about the baptism again. I said, “So I was baptized as a baby right?”. She said baptized? I don’t remember if you were baptized or dedicated.” I told her the birth certificate said baptized. She said my father filed the birth certificate. She doesn’t remember if I was baptized in a Catholic church or dedicated in the Baptist church she attended.

So because of all this uncertainty, I am back to square one. Great!

 

[Phemie]

Well, I hope the document is enough. All it has is the date of my baptism by a Reverend so and so. My mom says he was a Catholic Priest. I’m pretty sure she won’t sign any affidavits either, lol.

But let’s say it is and I go to confession. Do I have to confess everything since infancy or since my second baptism as a teen?

Can you figure out, from the name of the priest and where you were born, in which parish you might have been baptized? It’s worth attempting to contact them, because if you were baptized Catholic then you wouldn’t be being received into full Communion, (I’m assuming your Baptist baptism was trinitarian and valid), you would simply be completing your sacraments of initiation – there is a difference. If you’re not sure of the parish, then the diocese where your parents were living should be able to help you.

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

Well, I hope the document is enough. All it has is the date of my baptism by a Reverend so and so. My mom says he was a Catholic Priest. I’m pretty sure she won’t sign any affidavits either, lol.

But let’s say it is and I go to confession. Do I have to confess everything since infancy or since my second baptism as a teen?

the parish will normally contact the parish were the baptizm took place to verify and get on your records at your new parish.

 

[TrueLight]

Well, it looks like my infant baptism documentation, in lieu of the certificate, was accepted and I am considered a revert.

I am exhilarated and freaked out at the same time.

I have spent my whole life identifying as an Evangelical Protestant.

Does that mean this whole time I was Catholic?

 

[guanophore]

Well, it looks like my infant baptism documentation, in lieu of the certificate, was accepted and I am considered a revert.

I am exhilarated and freaked out at the same time.

I have spent my whole life identifying as an Evangelical Protestant.

Does that mean this whole time I was Catholic?

Yes, but all Evangelical Protestants who have been properly baptized are united to the One Faith.

 

[CEM5]

Well, it looks like my infant baptism documentation, in lieu of the certificate, was accepted and I am considered a revert.

I am exhilarated and freaked out at the same time.

I have spent my whole life identifying as an Evangelical Protestant.

Does that mean this whole time I was Catholic?

Hi TrueLight,

Just reading this all – wow! How wonderful! God revealed this “light” of truth just when you were ready and willing to accept it. Allelulia!

What this means regarding “was I Catholic” this whole time…in my opinion, yes and no, because you did not know and did not attend Catholic Church or were taught. It meant you were a ‘child of God’ through baptism. Because of this baptism, you are a member of the Catholic Church.

Welcome “home” TrueLight!! :grouphug:

 

[TrueLight]

Yes, but all Evangelical Protestants who have been properly baptized are united to the One Faith.

Well, yes and no, right?

Welcome “home” TrueLight!! :grouphug:

Thank you. Your welcome means a lot to me.

 

[puzzleannie]

I am not sure but doesn’t being baptized as a Catholic mean you’re technically a Catholic now, even though you’re weren’t confirmed?

What sacraments could you receive as a baptized but unconfirmed adult?

I have heard of this kind of thing before. I would imagine in this day and age, this kind of thing isn’t uncommon.

there is no technical about it
a person who has been baptized Catholic is Catholic unless he has formally defected, intentionally left the Church in a very formal way (hard to do, actually). Since he himself did not ask for the subsequent baptism in another denomination, and in any case was a minor, that has not happened.

Like any baptized Catholic such an individual will when he requests it be prepared for first confession, communion and confirmation. Baptism is the gateway to all the other sacraments. btw he is also bound by Catholic canon law on marriage.

 

[guanophore]

Well, yes and no, right?

Thank you. Your welcome means a lot to me.

You are most welcome, TrueLight, and I would say that the grace imparted to you at baptism has brought you full circle.

Persons who have unknowingly embraced heresies, as most Evangelical Protestants have, are considered “improperly united”. That is why they are called “separated brethren”. United in one faith by baptism, yet separated by divisive doctrines.

Now that you are ready, willing, and able to learn the faith into which you are baptized, I trust you will be divested of any heresies you may have embraced.

I am a revert also,and I can tell you, there were many!

 

[TrueLight]

You are most welcome, TrueLight, and I would say that the grace imparted to you at baptism has brought you full circle.

Persons who have unknowingly embraced heresies, as most Evangelical Protestants have, are considered “improperly united”. That is why they are called “separated brethren”. United in one faith by baptism, yet separated by divisive doctrines.

Now that you are ready, willing, and able to learn the faith into which you are baptized, I trust you will be divested of any heresies you may have embraced.

I am a revert also,and I can tell you, there were many!

I think I have divested myself of most of my heresies during my 5 months on this forum. :yup:

And I will take the opportunity to say now, CAF forum members, I love you all! Your help has been indispensable.

You know how you can love your kids but not like them all the time? I do not like all of you all the time, but you are my big Catholic family and I appreciate each and every one of you! Mods included.

And a big thank you to those of you who have reached out to me in PM and have been patient enough to teach me. You know who you are! God will bless you for your good works.

And no, I’m not leaving CAF, even though this sounds like a goodbye speech. I’m just feeling a bit emotional right now.

Hugs and Kisses.

 

[guanophore]

I think I have divested myself of most of my heresies during my 5 months on this forum. :yup:

And I will take the opportunity to say now, CAF forum members, I love you all! Your help has been indispensable.

You know how you can love your kids but not like them all the time? I do not like all of you all the time, but you are my big Catholic family and I appreciate each and every one of you! Mods included.

And a big thank you to those of you who have reached out to me in PM and have been patient enough to teach me. You know who you are! God will bless you for your good works.

And no, I’m not leaving CAF, even though this sounds like a goodbye speech. I’m just feeling a bit emotional right now.

Hugs and Kisses.

You are the reason CAF exists. :hug1:

 

[2livfree]

I think I have divested myself of most of my heresies during my 5 months on this forum. :yup:

And I will take the opportunity to say now, CAF forum members, I love you all! Your help has been indispensable.

You know how you can love your kids but not like them all the time? I do not like all of you all the time, but you are my big Catholic family and I appreciate each and every one of you! Mods included.

And a big thank you to those of you who have reached out to me in PM and have been patient enough to teach me. You know who you are! God will bless you for your good works.

And no, I’m not leaving CAF, even though this sounds like a goodbye speech. I’m just feeling a bit emotional right now.
Hugs and Kisses.

I loved reading your story. Thanks for sharing. As a cradle Catholic from a devout family, I must admit that my favorite Mass is Easter Vigil . I bring tissues…
Sursum Corda!