W
WesleyF
Guest
Who can baptize?
Hey, thanks for this.Also in The Orthodox Church, Chapter 14 page 274 ( this addresses your question in the other thread regarding the Holy Spirit
In most of the sacraments the Church takes material things - water, bread, wine, oil- and makes them a vehicle of the Spirit. In this way the sacraments look back to the Incarnation, when Christ took material flesh and made it a vehicle of the Spirit; and they look forward to, or rather they anticipate, the apocatastasis and the final redemption of matter at the Last Day.
Page 276
Baptism must normally be performed by a bishop or priest. In cases of emergency, it can be performed by a deacon, or by any man or woman, provided they are Christian. But whereas Roman Catholic theologians hold that if necessary even a non-Christian can administer Baptism, Orthodoxy holds this is not possible. The person who baptizes must himself be baptized.
I think anybody who is laity or clergy can baptize if they know what Baptism is.Who can baptize?
Only in the Latin Catholic Church. In the Eastern and Oriental Catholic and Orthodox churches the person who baptises must themself be baptised.I think anybody who is laity or clergy can baptize if they know what Baptism is.