When is Baptsm Appropriate

As our family has been growing over the past year or so with the cousins starting to have babies, there has been a point of contention among our ranks…when is it necessary to have the baby baptized? My father comes from the generation of Catholics who were told that a baby must be baptized as soon as possible (as in a day or two after the baby leaves the hospital). But, due to how spread out our family is and the fact that godparents often have to come from obscure corners of the US, the new babies in the family have gone a month or more before baptism. This confounds my father greatly and he has asked me repeatedly if this is alright or not. Why me? I guess because over the years my brother and mother have nurtured this idea that I am some sort of expert on canon law. This is hardly the case. Although today, sitting in church I was reminded of my goddaughter’s baptism and decided to look into it.

Catholics believe in infant baptism. I have written about this before on a couple of occasions but I’ll try to sum it up. Catholics believe that because of Original Sin, all men have lost the original holiness and justice given to Adam and Eve [CCC, no. 405]. Just as He gives the gift of life, so God gives Baptism as the gift to bring us eternal life. Not only is this given as a gift, but God requires us to accept His gift in order to be saved. As Jesus Himself says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:5). Children, even babies, were not excluded from the Old Covenant. Likewise, the family of God in the New Covenant is for all people, including babies. As Jesus Himself said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Lk. 18:16). This is the basis for our belief and the reason why we baptize our babies rather than waiting as most non-Catholic Christians do. I fully understand and appreciate the non-Catholic stance on baptism and have witnessed my own friends receive their baptisms as teenagers and young adults. I’m not here to say one way is right or wrong, for it is not my place to judge. I am only telling you what I, as a Catholic, believe.

Back to the question at hand, when is it necessary to baptize a newborn baby? For the answers I went to the one place that would have it, a website of Catholic Canon Law. Catholic Canon Law #867 states that, if an infant is in danger of death, it is to be baptized without any delay. Under ordinary circumstances, states Canon #867, parents are to see to the Baptisms of their infants within the first few weeks: "As soon as possible after birth, even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their child and to be themselves prepared for it." So according to the Church, my father is relatively correct in his knowledge of Catholic Tradition. The Church still believes that baptism is essential as soon as possible after birth.

I wanted to know if there is any flexibility in this, because Canon Law is like the Constitution…it was written a long time ago, hardly ever gets revised, and takes ridiculous amounts of effort to change it. I found information for new parents on how to prepare for Baptism. The first consideration in determining the time is the welfare of the child. If the child is at risk of death from complications at birth, it is important to have baptism administered immediately. Also to be taken into account is the health of the mother so that if possible she may be present for the Baptism. For Catholics, baptism is one of the first holy and spiritual moments they have with their child and it is important to be there and be healthy. There may also be necessary some time to prepare the parents for the sacrament and to plan the ceremony. A specialist in canon law has noted that the phrase "within the first weeks after birth" may be interpreted broadly to allow for special family considerations, for example, to await the return of a family member who lives out of town. So, there you go.