Rules for baptism of infant

[cathysf]

Hi,
My son was baptized Catholic back when he was an infant, however, he was never confirmed. He is now 29 years old. He was married 4 years ago in a non-Catholic ceremony and his wife has no religious orientation and has never been baptized. He just recently had a baby girl and would like to have her baptized in the Catholic Church. We have gotten conflicting stories from different Catholic churches/priests and are very confused.

We would like to know what exactly he has to do in order to get his baby baptized in the Catholic Church or is this not a possibility, as he has not been confirmed and was not married in a Catholic Church/ceremony. Since he is already legally married, does he have to be remarried in the Catholic Church? Does his wife have to be baptized or join the Catholic Church? Will he have to be confirmed before his baby can be baptized in the Catholic Church. We would greatly appreciate all information you can give us in regards to the rules of the Catholic Church on these issues.

Thank you so very much,
Cathy Frank
cafrank6@neo.rr.com

 

[allhers]

Hi Cathysf, I believe that a Priest would at least want to know if they have been attending the Catholic Church. I mean why would they want their child Baptized in the Catholic Church if they weren’t going to raise their child Catholic? If they are attending one, or would like to start attending, then I believe all they would need to do is contact that Pastor, make an appointment to talk to the Priest about all this, then they could take it from there.

 

[stbruno]

Allhers is right. Have your son talk to the local priest. Most churches have baptismal prep classes for both the parents (even the non-Catholic one) as well as the godparents.

Their marital status may be questioned as well as their intention to raise the child Catholic. However, the baby is not prevented from being baptized even if the parents have not received all their sacraments or are in a sacramental marriage. The ideal would be for them to normalize their own relationship with the church, as they get their baby baptized.

Tell them in selecting godparents, 1st of all, they must be Catholic , at least 16 ys.of age and confirmed in the faith and hopefully practicing their faith. Not because they represent the parents, but they represent and witness the church to the little one. Perhaps this little one will be evangelizing to his/her parents and they will pursue further into the Catholic church and become fully formed in the faith. God works in many ways, why not through your little grandchild?

There is a wonderful website for lapsed Catholics or for people who want to learn about our faith. Check it out. catholicscomehome.org/