Baptism

Children under 7 years of age

If you are reading this, I'm guessing you have a baby / child for Baptism; so, congratulations on their arrival!

Baptism is one of the Seven Sacraments of the Church; it is also referred to as one of the "Sacrament of Initiation" it is the first sacrament, which, if you will, is the "doorway or entrance into the Church and all the other sacraments" through which we become a part of the body of Christ, His Church.

Requirements of the Church

For an infant to be baptised it is required:

  1. That at least one of the parents, or the legal guardian is a practicing Catholic, i.e. they attend Sunday Mass and that they give their consent for the baptism.
  2. That there be well-founded hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic faith. If such a hope is lacking, the baptism is in accordance with the provisions of particular law, to be deferred and the parents advised of the reason for this. [Code of Canon Law (Church Law) para. 868.2].
  3. A minimum of two months notification must be given prior to any dates being arranged for a Baptism to take place.
  4. Your parish is the local church which has juridical and pastoral responsibility for the area in which you live, (not necessarily the church where you worship). If you wish to have your child baptised in a church where you have no residential qualification, a letter giving permission must be obtained from your own parish priest.
  5. There must be evidence of completion of a baptismal course from the parish of residence.

Requirement No. 2 is borne out in the opening paragraph of the Baptismal Ceremony which reads as follows: "You have asked to have your child baptised. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him / her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him / her up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and neighbour."

This is then followed by the question: "Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?"

Such 'practice of faith' is evidenced by attendance at Sunday Mass, demonstrating "loving God" and wishing to show love of our neighbour in celebrating the fact of the Resurrection on the First Day of the week (Sunday) with our fellow Christians.

If you wish to have your child Baptised, please contact Fr. Ian on 01825 762221