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Catholic baptism - when?
Anyone know what age the Catholic church usually baptizes babies? The way the timing works out w/ classes and baptism weekends compared to when our baby will be born, we have to choose when it would be 1 month old or 4 months old (don't know the dates in Feb yet and my parents will be on a cruise and my bro and his soon-to-be wife will be on their honeymoon).
When are you thinking of baptizing your baby?
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Re: Catholic baptism - when?
We're having LO baptized when she is 15 days old.
My BIL is her GodFather and he is visiting from FL (and moving to CA next month). My friend is her GodMother and she's visiting from GA at the same time. We don't know when we'll have the two of them in the same state again
I am not sure about any of your questions myself, but i am also wondering some other questions on this topic that I could throw in, please?:
do the parents have to be married in the catholic church? we were not because my husband was never confirmed, so is that also a problem?
Do you have to have godparents? and if so, can they be of a different religion? I understand the role of godparents is to ensure their religion is followed through with and they understand god, but if anything were to happen to us, I'd rather my best friend take care of the child, who is jewish.
Thanks for letting me throw these in with your post!!!
My DH was never confirmed, and we were not married in a church at all. They never even asked us. You do have to have godparents. I'm pretty sure they have to be Catholic, but I'm not 100% on that.
Cool - we are only one day apart on our due dates!
It depends on the Church/Priest if he wants you married or not - call your local parish and ask.
Usually (again - depends on the Church/Priest) atleast ONE of the GodParents needs to practice in the Church.
Naming someone to take care of your child is done in your will, but GodParents would "ensure" that LO would still attend Church and receive their Church education.
DH and I just got some info on baptism from our church this past week...
DH and I were married in the Catholic church - I am Catholic, he is Lutheran. We have to take 4 classes to prepare for baptism, each 2 hours long. Our baby will need to have 1-2 Godparents and at least one must be Catholic. Both must be active participants in their church and have to get something signed from their priest/pastor to prove it.
I really think it varies church-to-church.
Haha, my husband plans on trying "every trick in the book" to get me to go into labor on the 9th (he wants a 10-10-10 birthday). He's out of his mind! I'm assuming we'll go late...
Just lurking - sorry to butt in, but in regards to the Godparents - yes, you have to have at least 1, but you can (and most people) have 2. One must be a practicing Catholic and they must get a letter from their church stating such. The other person can be another Christian religion, but they must be some type of Christian. This does not (shoudl not) vary from church to church.
The role of the Godparent is not to raise your child if something should happen to you, it is simply to help aid in the spiritual development/religious upbringing of the child. Yes, if something were to happen to the parent, the Godparent could take the child to church, etc... But, even if the parents are alive and well, they are to be good religious role models, etc... That is why there is the requirement that at least one of them are Catholic.
You can pick whomever you want to actually be named in your will (as a pp said) to raise your child, should something happen to you and YH.
As for the OP - I had my DD baptized at 8 months old (long story), another friend of mine had her DD baptized at 5 months old. So whatever works for you - 1 month or 4 is fine, they will not turn you away and tell you your child is to old. You can have a child baptized at any age.
We had our DD baptized when she was 2 months old. We did our 'pre jordan' classes before she was born and got that out of the way. Our chrurch baptizing something like the first sunday of the month kinda thing-
ANSWERS:
No- you don't have to be married in the church (contrary to what some churches might say)- our priest was trying to force us to get our marriage blessed and such- and we politely declined. (I was finishing law school- was 9 months pregnant- and it was tax season- I just didn't need one more thing on my plate).
Godparents: yes you have to have two people 'stand' for your child. ONE has to be of the Catholic faith- and he/she will need a letter of 'being in good standing' from their parish/church.
we were not married in the catholic church and we had our daughter baptized there. We just called the church and met with someone there (it wasn;t a priest, I forget what she was) and gave a donation. you do have to have godparents, and I'm not sure about the religion part. I am not catholic and DH is, and we are the godparents to our nephew. Maybe at least 1 needs to be catholic? not sure.
As for ages, Amelia was 2m old when we had hers, our nephew was almost 6m old and at his baptism there was a 2yr old getting baptised as well, so I don't think there is an appropriate age.
That would be really cool to have that birthday! Wonder if the hospital/Doctor would induce labor if you guys insisted on that?
We're doing "the natural thing" so no unnecessary inductions for me. But I bet there are a lot of people out there that want to try that. It would be a cool birthday...
That would be ridiculous, dangerous and completely unnecessary.
im not sure about being married in the church - but i know that at least one godparent has to be a Catholic in good standing (they need a letter from their church i believe).
It's ideal to have baby baptized as soon as possible (as soon as it's safe for baby to be handled and possibly dunked!), but either of those ages (1-4 months is just fine). We will also have to follow the schedule of our parish, but I'm not sure what it will be yet, since we're moving soon.
Ideally, you'd be married in the Church because when baptizing your child, you, as the parents, vow to raise your child in the Catholic Church. You may want to go to www.catholic.com and ask this question for further/more accurate clarification.
The vow to raise your child in the Church also is asked of the Godparents, and thus requires them to be Catholic as well. I encourage you to think about how serious you are about baptizing in the Catholic Church. I hope you will have your baby baptized with the intent of raising him/her in the faith. I am saying this with a lot of love and support of your curiosity, as a fellow Catholic.
I agree, every church is different.
We were not married in the Catholic church. After the baptism we renewed our vows inside the church thus making our marriage valid in the church's eyes.
Only our Godfather is Catholic. Godmother is Presbyterian. Godfather had to provide a letter that he was in good standing with the church.
But again, i think everything depends on the church and the priest.
And to OP, with DS we had him baptised at 3 months the week after Christmas because my brother (Godfather) would be in town.
This year, I think we'll wait until January or February just so its not so hectic.
Oh, I wanted to add that our church does not do baptisms during Lent. So that may play a role in some people's decisions for when to baptise their child. DS was born March 6, but we had to wait until after Easter to get him baptized.
Also, our church did not require a letter from either of our godparents. Perhaps they have too many to do (we have 5 - 6 baptisms a week).
I have decided to not baptize.
I do not practice my faith and I think it would be pretty hypocritical to baptize.
I think you can be of any age.