Every once in a while, I come across people who come and claim that a loved one has passed away and a funeral is requested in a Catholic church, because the next-of-kin claims that the recently deceased was baptised as a Catholic. While we empathise with such persons and offer our condolences, it may also…
All posts in Baptism
Baptism With Right Intention
I have observed, from time to time, people coming to me and asking whether their elderly and seriously ill dad or mum could be baptised. While it is true that “Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is capable of baptism,” there is also such a thing as “intention to receive baptism.”…
Baptism: An Analogy to our Faith
Have you ever noticed how infants behave when they are about to be baptised? Some of you may wonder: “But infants are infants. They either sleep, feed or cry. What are you getting at?” Well, actually if you observe infants and how they respond when you baptise them, we could get some insights about ourselves,…
To Sponsor or not to Sponsor?
A Bit of Background There was a time in the past where Christians were facing tremendous persecution from the Roman Empire, especially before the year 313 AD (313 AD was the year when the Edict of Milan declared the Roman Empire neutral towards religious views, in effect ending the persecution of Christians). Because of such…
Searching and Retrieving Baptism Records
Most of the baptism records in churches are still found in books. This is because, to a certain extent, books and written text are still necessary to ensure that such important and significant information is not lost should something happen, as required by Canon Law (Can. 877 §1). Data stored on computers could be easily…