BAPTISM FAQs

What do I need to do to get my baby baptized?

1. Be Catholic (at least one parent needs to be a practicing Catholic)

2. Fill our the baptism form (on Baptism Page) or ask for the blue baptism form at the office or welcome desk.

3. Attend a baptism prep class. This is normally held on the third Thursday of every month. To schedule which class you would like to attend, please fill out the Baptism Prep Sign Up.

4. Choose your Godparents (At least 1 Godparent must be an active practicing Catholic)

Who can be baptized?

Any unbaptized person desiring to be washed away of sin may be baptized with proper preparation by the Church.

Who can baptize?

A bishop, priest, or deacon may baptize. However, in emergency cases only, anyone may baptize if they intend to do what the church does in baptisms, and by pouring, sprinkling, or immersing the recipient in water and saying the words: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".

What is a "valid" baptism?

A valid baptism is one done with the formula of flowing water (immersion, sprinkling, or pouring) and the words: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".

Who can be a godparent?

A godparent may be any Catholic, over the age of 16, confirmed, and is a good, active model of Catholicism. If you would like a non-Catholic to be a model for your child, they may be listed as a "Christian Witness" to the baptism.

What if I want to be baptized again?

Only one baptism is necessary for salvation, so a person may only be baptized once.

What does baptism do?

Baptism washes away original sin, washes away any actual sin the person may have committed in their life, brings a person into God's family where he shares his divine life, and is the first step in full initiation into the life of the Church.

Why are children baptized?

'But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."' (Matthew 19:14)

Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called.50 The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. (CCC 1250)

Do both parents have to be Catholic?

The Church does not require that both parents be Catholic. However, one of the promises the parents make when a child is baptized is that this child will be raised in the practice of the Catholic faith. So whether both are Catholic or not, both promise to raise the child in the practice of the faith.

Why was Jesus baptized?

To baptize means to immerse. In his baptism, Jesus descended into the sinful history of all mankind. By doing so he established a sign. In order to redeem us from our sins, he would one day be submerged in death but, through his Father’s power, reawakened to life. [535-537, 565]

Sinners—soldiers, prostitutes, tax collectors—went out to the prophet John the Baptist because they were looking for the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 3:3). Strictly speaking, Jesus did not need this baptism, because he was sinless. The fact that he submitted to this baptism shows us two things: Jesus takes our sins upon himself. Jesus understands his baptism as an anticipation of his Passion and Resurrection. At this sign of his willingness to die for us, the heavens open: “You are my beloved Son” (Lk 3:22b). (YOUCAT, 87)