When my grandchild was three, he and his parents were in a horrific
traffic accident and the parents were hospitalized for over a month. I
had power of attorney and consent to take my grandson home with me. As
a baptized, even though not practicing Catholic at the time, I knew if
there was a case of grave danger, I could baptize my grandchild
(neither parent is Catholic) and not being willing to risk his eternal
salvation on the possibility of some other accident, I baptized him in
my bathtub in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.I
never told anyone because I was sure his parents would see to this, in
whatever denomination they happened to be in because they both said
they considered this accident a "wake-up call from God" to get their
lives in order. They did nothing. It's now nine years later and my
grandson is twelve. I know my grandson feels like he's missing
something and tells me he has Jesus his heart. My question is, is
my baptism of him valid in the Church today? If so, what do I need to
do? Tell them, of course, but what else? I am back in the Church and a
practicing Catholic, by the way. If my baptism of him is not valid and
would not be recognized by the Church, then I need not say anything I
suppose. Just pray that he will make his own decision someday.
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Grandma--Your baptism, assuming you did
it correctly, was valid but not licit (i.e., lawful). Unless the child
himself was in actual (not imagined) danger of death, you should not
have baptized him on your own while his parents were still alive. My
guess is that you had temporary guardianship, contingent upon the
parents' recovery, and so you did not have the right to baptize him or
have him baptized unless the guardianship became permanent. Yes,
you should tell the child's parents what you did. Should they become
Catholic or should he choose to enter the Church himself someday, they
will need to know about the baptism. If he is baptized into another
Christian church, that baptismal record will serve as a baptismal
record should he enter the Catholic Church. Should he choose to become
Catholic -- without having been baptized into another Christian church
-- he will be conditionally baptized as a Catholic so that there may be
record of his baptism. (In a conditional baptism the formula begins,
"If you are not already baptized, I baptize you....") If you have
not already sacramentally confessed having baptized your grandson
without his parents' permission, I urge you to do so at your next
confession. Your culpability may have been lessened because of the
traumatic circumstances that influenced your choice, and you may have
believed you were doing the right thing, but the action itself was
objectively wrong. Michelle Arnold
Catholic Answers
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