GodsGrace
CF Ambassador
Tradidi
part 2 of 3
I'm linking the following which has a lot of information....you may know it already.
It shows the current thought that the church would like to baptize only adults, as I've stated, but feels it cannot at this time.
It also speaks of other interesting doctrine.....
part 2 of 3
I'm linking the following which has a lot of information....you may know it already.
It shows the current thought that the church would like to baptize only adults, as I've stated, but feels it cannot at this time.
It also speaks of other interesting doctrine.....
| Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith INSTRUCTION ON INFANT BAPTISM Pastoralis actio Introduction 1. Pastoral work with regard to infant Baptism was greatly assisted by the promulgation of the new Ritual, prepared in accordance with the directives of the Second Vatican Council.[1] The pace of change in society, however, is making it difficult for the young to be brought up in the Faith and to persevere in it, and the resulting problems encountered by Christian parents and pastors have not been completely eliminated. 2. Many parents are distressed to see their children abandoning the Faith and no longer receiving the sacraments, in spite of their own efforts to give them a Christian upbringing, and some pastors are asking themselves whether they should not be stricter before admitting infants to Baptism. Some think it better to delay the Baptism of children until the completion of a catechumenate of greater or less duration, while others are asking for a re-examination of the teaching on the necessity of Baptism, at least for infants, and wish the celebration of the sacrament to be put off until such an age when an individual can make a personal commitment, perhaps even until the beginning of adult life. However, this questioning of traditional sacramental pastoral practice cannot fail to raise in the Church justified fears of jeopardizing so essential a doctrine as that of the necessity of Baptism. In particular, many parents are scandalized at finding Baptism refused or delayed when, with full awareness of their duty, they request it for their children. 3. In view of this situation and in response to the many petitions received, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in consultation with various Episcopal Conferences, has prepared the present Instruction. The purpose of the document is to recall the principal points of doctrine in this field which justify the Church's constant practice down the centuries and demonstrate its permanent value in spite of the difficulties raised today. The document will then indicate some general guidelines for pastoral action. Part One Traditional Doctrine On Infant Baptism Immemorial Practice 4. Both in the East and in the West the practice of baptizing infants is considered a rule of immemorial tradition. Origen, and later St. Augustine, considered it a "tradition received from the Apostles."[2] When the first direct evidence of infant Baptism appears in the second century, it is never presented as an innovation. St. Irenaeus, in particular, considers it a matter of course that the baptized should include "infants and small children" as well as adolescents, young adults and older people.[3] The oldest known ritual, describing at the start of the third century the Apostolic Tradition, contains the following rule: "First baptize the children. Those of them who can speak for themselves should do so. The parents or someone of their family should speak for the others."[4] At a Synod of African Bishops, St. Cyprian stated that "God's mercy and grace should not be refused to anyone born," and the Synod, recalling that "all human beings" are "equal," whatever be "their size or age," declared it lawful to baptize children "by the second or third day after their birth."[5] 5. Admittedly there was a certain decline in the practice of infant Baptism during the fourth century. At that time even adults postponed their Christian initiation out of apprehension about future sins and fear of public penance, and many parents put off the Baptism of their children for the same reasons. But it must also be noted that Fathers and Doctors such as Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine, who were themselves baptized as adults on account of this state of affairs, vigorously reacted against such negligence and begged adults not to postpone Baptism since it is necessary for salvation.[6] Several of them insisted that Baptism should be administered to infants.[7] The Teaching of the Magisterium 6. Popes and Councils also often intervened to remind Christians of their duty to have their children baptized. At the close of the fourth century the ancient custom of baptizing children as well as adults "for the forgiveness of sins" was used against the teachings of Peladius. As Origen and St. Cyprian had noted, before St. Augustine,[8] this custom confirmed the Church's belief in original sin, and this in turn showed still more clearly the necessity of infant Baptism. There were interventions on these lines by Pope Siricius[9] and Pope Innocent I.[10] Later, the Council of Carthage in 418 condemned "whoever says that newborn infants should not be baptized," and it taught that, on account of the Church's "rule of faith" concerning original sin, "even babies, who are yet unable to commit any sin personally, are truly baptized for the forgiveness of sins, for the purpose of cleansing by rebirth what they have received by birth."[11] 7. This teaching was constantly reaffirmed and defended during the Middle Ages. In particular, the Council of Vienna in 1312 stressed that the sacrament of Baptism has for its effect, in the case of infants, not just the forgiveness of sins but also the granting of grace and the virtues.[12] The Council of Florence in 1442 rebuked those who wanted Baptism postponed and declared that infants should receive "as soon as is convenient" (quam primum commode) the sacrament "through which they are rescued from the devil's power and adopted as God's children."[13] The Council of Trent repeated the Council of Carthage's condemnation,[14] and, referring to the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, it declared that "since the promulgation of the Gospel" nobody can be justified "without being washed for rebirth or wishing to be."[15] One of the errors anathematized by the Council is the Anabaptist view that "it is better that the Baptism (of children) be omitted than to baptize in the faith of the Church alone those who do not believe by their own act."[16] 8. The various regional councils and synods held after the Council of Trent taught with equal firmness the necessity of baptizing children. Pope Paul VI also solemnly recalled the centuries-old teaching on this matter, declaring that "Baptism should be conferred even on infants who are yet unable to commit any sin personally, in order that, having been born without supernatural grace, they may be born again of water and the Holy Spirit to divine life in Christ Jesus."[17] 9. The texts of the Magisterium quoted above were chiefly concerned with refuting errors. They are far from exhausting the riches of the doctrine on Baptism expressed in the New Testament, the catechesis of the Fathers, and the teaching of the Doctors of the Church: Baptism is a manifestation of the Father's prevenient love, a sharing in the Son's Paschal Mystery, and a communication of new life in the Spirit; it brings people into the inheritance of God and joins them to the Body of Christ, the Church. 10. In view of this, Christ's warning in St. John's Gospel, "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,"[18] must be taken as an invitation of universal and limitless love, the words of a Father calling all His children and wishing them to have the greatest of blessings. This pressing and irrevocable call cannot leave us indifferent or neutral, since its acceptance is a condition for achieving our destiny. |
