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Dear Mike,
I am a Catholic nurse in a Baptist hospital.
A Catholic couple expecting premature twins
was seen by their priest. This priest wanted
to baptize the babies in utero by putting
a straw up the mother's vagina!
- Have you ever heard of such a thing?
There are many problems with this in my mind
and in the minds of all my non-Catholic coworkers,
who already think the Catholic faith is ridiculous.
Such a thing could cause infection and even
an embolus, and it would be totally useless
for the second twin. This priest made himself
and the Church look foolish, if not insane
and perverted. Eyebrows were raised, and with
all the sex scandals in the Church, this only
added to the wacko image of Catholic priests.
I, as the resident Catholic, was
questioned about such a procedure's validity,
and once again found myself trying to defend
the Church in the face of much ridicule and
contempt. Babies are protected by "Providential
grace" in at least some Protestant denominations,
and I can't believe that a merciful God would
condemn innocent babies, or that putting baptismal
water on an unborn infant's head with a straw
would change anything. Such a ridiculous act
can't possibly have anything to do with salvation.
However, the faith of the parents and their
desire for their children to have Baptism
certainly should.
- Are we not overly
concerned with the "rites of the law" here?
It sounds just like something Jesus would
have condemned when He walked among us!
We say that children are not responsible before
the age of reason, in spite of their wrong
behavior, yet unborn infants are in danger
if a ritual isn't performed!
- Baptism of desire
- a prayer over the abdomen,
and
- holy water poured on the
abdomen
in some sort of symbolic rite,
would surely be adequate!
I am at a loss as to how to explain this to
reasonable people. The damage this incident
has done in the minds of my coworkers is
enormous!
- What was this priest thinking?
- More importantly, is this valid Catholic
behavior, based on
"honest-to-God" Catholic Church
teaching?
Please explain this if you can.
Thanks,
Tina M.
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