RCIA and proof of baptism

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taylo223

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Hi everyone! This is my first post but I have been reading these forums for months and they’ve been a gift from God. I’m hoping that someone can guide me in what to do about this situation. I’m starting RCIA classes and I’m very excited about them! I was raised protestant and was baptised several times because growing up, I was lead to believe that this was a way of reaffirming one’s faith. I don’t even remember my first baptism but I definitely remember the last. I also have a friend that was witness to the last one also. That being said, from my understanding only my 1st baptism was valid. I was very young and baptised at summer camp and no one has records OR memories of this now. What should I do?..I know that I’ve been baptised and should be considered a candiate instead but…I’m kinda in a tough pickle here…I just know that I don’t want to be baptised again seeing how my first few times were hopefully valid…(i hope this statement doesn’t offend anyone, it’s just funny to me looking back on it) .😃
And last but not least…if I can use my last baptism, the one that my friend remembers what should the letter say about it?
 
taylo223 said:
Hi everyone! This is my first post but I have been reading these forums for months and they’ve been a gift from God. I’m hoping that someone can guide me in what to do about this situation. I’m starting RCIA classes and I’m very excited about them! I was raised protestant and was baptised several times because growing up, I was lead to believe that this was a way of reaffirming one’s faith. I don’t even remember my first baptism but I definitely remember the last. I also have a friend that was witness to the last one also. That being said, from my understanding only my 1st baptism was valid. I was very young and baptised at summer camp and no one has records OR memories of this now. What should I do?..I know that I’ve been baptised and should be considered a candiate instead but…I’m kinda in a tough pickle here…I just know that I don’t want to be baptised again seeing how my first few times were hopefully valid…(i hope this statement doesn’t offend anyone, it’s just funny to me looking back on it) .😃
And last but not least…if I can use my last baptism, the one that my friend remembers what should the letter say about it?
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Your situation is like Conditional Baptism. If you are certain beyond any doubt that your first Baptism was valid then the later ones had no effect. If your first Baptism was invalid for some reason then the next valid one would be your first Baptism. So the earilest one that you have a certain memory of and witnesses for and documentation of, is the one that should be entered.
 
taylo223 said:
Hi everyone! This is my first post but I have been reading these forums for months and they’ve been a gift from God. I’m hoping that someone can guide me in what to do about this situation. I’m starting RCIA classes and I’m very excited about them! I was raised protestant and was baptised several times because growing up, I was lead to believe that this was a way of reaffirming one’s faith. I don’t even remember my first baptism but I definitely remember the last. I also have a friend that was witness to the last one also. That being said, from my understanding only my 1st baptism was valid. I was very young and baptised at summer camp and no one has records OR memories of this now. What should I do?..I know that I’ve been baptised and should be considered a candiate instead but…I’m kinda in a tough pickle here…I just know that I don’t want to be baptised again seeing how my first few times were hopefully valid…(i hope this statement doesn’t offend anyone, it’s just funny to me looking back on it) .😃
And last but not least…if I can use my last baptism, the one that my friend remembers what should the letter say about it?
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I don’t know which of your baptisms would be ‘valid’ but for me the Catholic Church baptism I received is the only one I would accept even if told I had been baptised a thousand times before in some other church. Besides, it is confirmed by the church and a baptismal certificate was issued to me as verification. :yup:

I do have to wonder though, if you seek acceptance into the Catholic Church why you would not wish to also be baptised into the faith and receive one of our holy sacraments? :confused:

Lynn-D
 
Well, to be honest. The last time I was baptised, I was 16 and had to started to question most of the teachings of my church. This was the turning point when I started to seek out the truth and was discovering that I couldn’t get the truth from protestantism. To me, it was like a lightening bolt moment. Oh and the trinity was invoked during it.

Also, I was raised in the Christian faith from a very early age and have been studying the Catholic faith for a long time. Because of these reasons shouldn’t I be a candiate during the RCIA process?To me it would almost feel as if I was lying if I was baptised again. I KNOW i’ve been baptised. And I know that if a Catholic was baptised more than once its sacrilege.

I mean if someone believes this is wrong then please respond…
 
Lynn-D said:
I do have to wonder though, if you seek acceptance into the Catholic Church why you would not wish to also be baptised into the faith and receive one of our holy sacraments? :confused:

Lynn-D
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Because the catholic church recognizes the first documented baptism as valid no matter where it’s taken place.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
 
Lynn-D said:
I don’t know which of your baptisms would be ‘valid’ but for me the Catholic Church baptism I received is the only one I would accept even if told I had been baptised a thousand times before in some other church. Besides, it is confirmed by the church and a baptismal certificate was issued to me as verification. :yup:

I do have to wonder though, if you seek acceptance into the Catholic Church why you would not wish to also be baptised into the faith and receive one of our holy sacraments? :confused:

Lynn-D
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texaspanda said:
Because the catholic church recognizes the first documented baptism as valid no matter where it’s taken place.

We believe in one God, . . . . We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
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This is a very important point. Once you were validly baptized, you are baptized. None other are required OR to be done. However, because you may have been of a faith tradition that does not have valid baptisms, you may need to be baptized. My suggestion is that you schedule a meeting with your Pastor to discuss. My suspicion is that he will ask you to remember all the baptisms you can, where done, denomination, and approximate date. Then, he will ask you to try to gather any that are documented. If you fail to produce any good documentation, he may choose to conditionally baptize you. A conditional baptism is only valid if any of the previous were invalid (which only God may know).

Lynn, if I was going home from the hospital with my new born baby and we got in an accident, I was trapped and feared for my life and the life of my baby. A Muslim comes upon the car with a bottle of water. i could instruct the Muslim on how to baptize and if done correctly, that baptism would be as valid as if done by the Pope. It is important to always remember that Baptism is an act of God. Anybody can baptize in extra-ordinary circumstances, even an atheist.
 
Lynn-D said:
I
I do have to wonder though, if you seek acceptance into the Catholic Church why you would not wish to also be baptised into the faith and receive one of our holy sacraments? :confused:

Lynn-D
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because the Catholic Church recognizes, as Paul states, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism and in canon law a validly baptized person may not be baptized again.

the poster should confer with the priest who is preparing him for entrance into the Church. There is no problem as long as there is documentation, or witnesses who can verify, that he was baptized with water and the Trinitarian formula. If there is no documentation or no witnesses, a conditional baptism can be done, as a last resort.
 
It would be very unusual for a mainstream Protestant church (most of which are, indeed, Trinitarian) to have multiple baptisms. They may have infant baptisms, they may have age of reason baptisms, and they may sprinkle you or dunk you – but they only do it once. I would think a conditional baptism would be in order.
 
I didn’t say that it was mainstream protestantism (aka anglican or UMC?), I was raised Church of God.But that shouldn’t make a difference. As I explained we saw the baptism as something you should do AFTER being saved…but the denomination I was raised in believed that you could lose your salvation. If you lost salvation such as straying from the faith (by continuingly sinning and not repenting )but once again found your way back to the church and to salvation then symbolical you could be baptised again as an outward expression of your faith and symbolically showing the cleansing that had occured inwardly.
From my understanding isn’t something said, such as “if a baptism hasn’t occured”…during a conditional baptism?
But I know that I have been…
I planned to ask after the service, but it was to hectic after RCIA, Maybe I can ask after Sunday mass…
Thanks for all the thoughts on this, I know its a complicated situation…
 
Conditional Baptism is something that is done in private, here from the CA library,
Conditional baptism

In some situations there may be a doubt concerning whether a person’s baptism was valid. All baptisms are assumed valid, regardless of denomination, unless after serious investigation there is reason to doubt that the candidate was baptized with water and the Trinitarian formula (“in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”) or there is reason to doubt that the minister or recipient of baptism intended it to be an actual baptism.

If there is reason to doubt whether a person’s baptism was valid (or whether the person was baptized at all), then the candidate will be given conditional baptism (one with the form, “If you are not already baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”). “If conditional baptism . . . seems necessary, this must be celebrated privately rather than at a public liturgical assembly of the community and with only those limited rites which the diocesan bishop determines. The reception into full communion should take place later at the Sunday Eucharist of the community” (NSC 37).< BR>
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9509fea3.asp
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…after this depending the rules of your local bishop, you are received into to the Church. In our diocese cadidates go through RCIA and then are received into full communion at Easter Vigil. Myself, I was able to get a letter from the church at which I was baptised.

Welcome Home!
 
You will need to discuss this thoroughly with the priest you are working with for RCIA. I knew I had been baptized validly when I was a child, I clearly remember the preacher using the Trinitarian formula. But that church had no records of it. My priest said I could either be conditionally baptized, or if I was sure it was valid, just enter as a candidate. I chose the latter, and was confirmed in the Church on Easter Vigil. Some priests, however, may insist on proof, or you may have to go through with the conditional baptism anyway.
 
Hi!
I’m in RCIA right now, too, and I grappled with the validity of my baptism, for various reasons. My priest has recommended conditional baptism, which others have mentioned here. Our dear Lord is so precious, and I want to be sure that I have followed His commands–even though I am fairly certain my baptism was valid.

God bless you during this time in your faith journey. Isn’t it special?
 
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