Anonymous Grandmother wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
My first grandson, 9 months, will soon be baptized into the Protestant religion. We were just informed of this happening 2 weeks ago. His parents were married in a Protestant church. They do attend Protestant services weekly as a family so I do find some comfort that they are going to religious services. My questions:
- Should I be troubled that they are baptizing him in a Protestant church?
I am losing sleep over this.
- And will my grandson be baptized in Christ?
My continual prayer that someday my daughter-in-law will convert to Catholicism and my son will return to the Catholic faith.
Thank you for your reply.
Anonymous Grandmother
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| { If my grandson is baptized in a Protestant church, will he be baptized in Christ? } |
Eric replied:
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Dear Grandmother,
As long as your grandson is baptized in the name of the Trinity, that is using the formula
"I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit",
it will be Christian baptism, the Catholic Church will recognize it, and he will be baptized in Christ. I wouldn't lose sleep over the Baptism. More problematic is his being raised Protestant, but at least his parents are presumably fervent believers in Christ.
Eric
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Mike replied:
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Dear Grandmother,
We answered a similar question below. (See Fr. Jonathan's portion of our team answer. It includes valid and invalid Baptisms.)
Hope this helps,
Mike
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Eric replied:
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Mike —
- What, specifically, are you not sure of?
My answer was deliberately vague and non-definitive.
Generally, baptisms in the name of the Trinity, like Methodist baptisms, are accepted (as Fr. Jonathan noted), but this is not absolute, and as you said it requires pastoral discernment, so I added "probably".
Eric
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