Red Tape and Baptism

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jdg164
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jdg164

Guest
Perhaps all of you can help me with a frustrating situation. My husband and I are expecting our first child in November (no, this isn’t the frustrating part! This is the joyous part!). We wish for our child to be baptized asap. After all, the Catechism states…
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
No arguments here! Unfortunately, the parish we belong to (we just moved to where we are a year ago and are utter strangers among the other parishioners) has this rule printed on their bulletin:
Preparation classes are held four times a year, alternating English and Spanish. Parents are to register for the classes by bringing their child’s state birth certificate to the parish office.
Lucky for us, we understand both English and Spanish but um… birth certificate?!? That means that our child will have to be born before we can even take classes to prepare for baptism! Couldn’t this be construed as a “hinderance” to Jesus as the Catechism states? What should I do?
 
40.png
Jdg164:
Perhaps all of you can help me with a frustrating situation. My husband and I are expecting our first child in November (no, this isn’t the frustrating part! This is the joyous part!). We wish for our child to be baptized asap. After all, the Catechism states…

1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
No arguments here! Unfortunately, the parish we belong to (we just moved to where we are a year ago and are utter strangers among the other parishioners) has this rule printed on their bulletin:
Preparation classes are held four times a year, alternating English and Spanish. Parents are to register for the classes by bringing their child’s state birth certificate to the parish office.

Lucky for us, we understand both English and Spanish but um… birth certificate?!? That means that our child will have to be born before we can even take classes to prepare for baptism! Couldn’t this be construed as a “hinderance” to Jesus as the Catechism states? What should I do?
Click to expand...
I would seriously consider joining another parish. I can’t imagine why this is done AFTER the child is born with classes only 2 times a year (most people are not bi-lingual).

My children were baptized right as soon as possible. I don’t believe in waiting.
 
40.png
Jdg164:
Perhaps all of you can help me with a frustrating situation. My husband and I are expecting our first child in November (no, this isn’t the frustrating part! This is the joyous part!). We wish for our child to be baptized asap. After all, the Catechism states…
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,” allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
No arguments here! Unfortunately, the parish we belong to (we just moved to where we are a year ago and are utter strangers among the other parishioners) has this rule printed on their bulletin:
Preparation classes are held four times a year, alternating English and Spanish. Parents are to register for the classes by bringing their child’s state birth certificate to the parish office.
Lucky for us, we understand both English and Spanish but um… birth certificate?!? That means that our child will have to be born before we can even take classes to prepare for baptism! Couldn’t this be construed as a “hinderance” to Jesus as the Catechism states? What should I do?
Click to expand...
I agree with the poster prior to mine… or speak to the priest and make known that you wish baptism without the wait… there may not be a problem… maybe… 👍
 
This is definately a parish by parish thing. I am a Baptismal class instructor at my church. We have faith formation presentations and instructional class (our faith formation is a two part process) every month except June and July.

Babies of all ages are a part of our baptismal classes. The last class I instructed we had two pregnant women.

Sorry to see you are having problems with this. I can certainly see your point.

It is wonderful to see that this is a first priority for you to have your child baptized. Many couples wait to have it done.
 
BTW–

Could it be your parish is “short handed”. It is becoming a problem in alot of churches considering the shortage of priests and nuns. The lay ministries are taking over alot of these duties. Maybe your church does not have enought volunteers to support all of their ministries.

This may be a minsitry you could consider. They often like to have young couples who have small children instruct these classes. At the end of my group instructions, I always put out an invite to our couples to consider this ministry whenever our stewardship drive is underway and we are looking for parishoners to volunteer.

I know that having a new baby can be very time consuming. But, it maybe a nitch at your church you may like to get involved in.

Just a thought:) Good Luck and God Bless
 
First off before getting all out of shape about the notice, I would contact the priest or the person that schedules the class. The notice may be there because they assume most people take the Baptism class after the baby is born. Contact them and see if you can take the course while pregnant.

My wife and I did that, we filled out the paperwork and left anything that we didn’t know yet blank (i.e. date of birth, name, etc.) We had no problem once the kid was born.

Second, in an emergency anyone (within reason) can baptise your kid. You can baptise your kid yourself. All you have to is pour water on the kid’s head and say “I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” If the kid survives the emergency, you can still have your kid go through the ceremony in the church, you just need to let the priest know what has already happened. At the hospital we had our delivery, since it was a Catholic hospital, we actually filled out a consent form that allowed them to baptise the kid in the event of an emergency.
 
Thank you for your suggestions, keep them coming! I called the parish office and they informed me that they PREFER I at LEAST be pregnant. Well duh. When I stated I was, they (I state “they” because I have no idea who the female was on the other end of the line) informed me that the next class will begin in October and run though November. My babe is due in early November. Problem solved right? Not really. The next class is in Spanish and my hubby (who is a re-verting Catholic- please pray for him, his name is Gabriel) would prefer to get the class in English because he is not as well versed in Spanish as I am and fears he would miss something important and/or not be able to communicate properly during class. Oy.
I am going to take your suggestions to talk to the pastor myself. I have several concerns for him anyway (such as his desperate need to finish mass in exactly 1 hour even though he sounds like the “micro-machines” commercial guy (talks SUPER fast) during the consecration- this past Sunday’s mass was over in a record 50 minutes).

The reason I chose this parish in the 1st place was 1- it the parish assigned to where I live and 2- it is the only parish in town with a school. I knew that sooner or later my husband and I were going to have kids and that we would want them to get a Catholic education, so it seemed practical to join the parish with a school. What I did not expect (but have come to learn) is that such a parish is very tight and not very welcoming to strangers who do not have any children enrolled in the school.

Ah, I guess what I need as much as your advice is your prayers. Perhaps I should take a look at the other parishes in my town. This one is very mmmmmm… progressive (that’s a nice way of putting it isn’t it?) and I’m looking for something a bit more traditional. I love Latin mass but the only parish offering it is 1/2 a hours drive away… good to visit but not practical for someone wanting to be involved in parish life.
 
My wife and I each attended the class by ouselves. One for each of our first two daughters. Because number three came rather quickly behind number two, the class requirements were waived. I don’t think your husband should be worried about missing anything. In my opinion the classes were really basic and I don’t remember learning anything I hadn’t already learned through my own studies. I am not attempting to downplay the class, so please don’t mis-understand. I would encourage him to just go so you can follow through with getting your baby baptised right away!
 
One insight from my priest on this topic:

He explained that the main reason for classes in the first place is to make sure that the parents are attending Mass. He makes any parent seeking to have a child baptized to “interview” him first, unless he already knows the parent(s) and knows them to be faithful Catholics. The reason behind this is to assure that baptism is the entrance into the sacramental life of the church, not just an occasion to dress up.

This being said, if anyone was a faithful Catholic who was new to a parish, a simple phone call from the former priest was sufficient. Baptismal classes may not even be required.

This is just my priest’s opinion.
 
Our parish requires two classes and the parents must be the one’s asking for Baptism (not Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles). Godparents are required to produce a letter of recommendation showing they are practicing Catholics. (After all they will be involved in the child’s spiritual upbringing.)

Many who were upset that they had to go through this were very pleased later on after they “understood” what Baptism means and how important it is. (Not just a reason for a party)

Many Godparents cannot get letters because they haven’t been to Church in years. Parents reply “well they are good people” or “I don’t know anyone else”. One parent asked why a Jew (that she wanted) could not be a Godparent. Very confused when coordinator told her that Jews don’t believe in Baptism and Jesus therefore how can they be a witness to something they don’t believe in. Or this one “aren’t all religions the same”? or Who are you to judge them?

Bad Cathechesis is to blame.
 
Perhaps you can try logic:

In order to attend the marriage preperation classes, does one have to present a Marriage License?
 
Paul W:
Perhaps you can try logic:

In order to attend the marriage preperation classes, does one have to present a Marriage License?
Click to expand...
Seems like a pregnant woman resulting in a live baby would make just as much sense. My wife and I were never asked to produce a birth certificate to have our daughter’s baptized. Oh yeah, we didn’t have to present a marriage license to get into the marriage prep clases either. We did need it by a certain deadline, but not to get into the classes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top