Baptism & Christening 101

by Rabbi Marc Gellman & Msgr. Thomas Hartman
The God Squad

June 30, 2007

I am Catholic and my husband is a nondenominational Protestant.

We’ve been married for almost three years and have two beautiful children. This is, however, my second marriage.

My oldest child, age 7, is from a previous relationship but has been adopted by my husband. My youngest is from this marriage and is 2 months old. I would like both children to be christened in the Catholic Church but I am not sure how to go about it. Does my husband have to be Catholic? Is my oldest child too old to be christened? Also, regrettably, we do not currently go to church because of our different religious backgrounds, but I do look forward to returning to Mass soon. Any help and advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

- E., Louisiana

The status of the parents is not the issue when it comes to baptism. The issue is that the Catholic parent must agree to raise the baptized child as a Catholic. This is understandable because baptism is the ritual entering of a child into Catholicism and this makes no sense if the child is not going to become a Catholic. First comes the decision, and then the ritual. Also, there is no maximum age for a person to be baptized.

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