I would like to baptize my son soon by the Catholic Church. He is almost 4 months old. But my husband and I are not married by the catholic church. We were only married by the justice of the peace. We want to get married by the church, but we don't even know where to start. Do we have to take the marriage counseling class? Can we still baptize our son?

The bottom line is how can we get back on the right path? We don't want to be living in sin any more.

please help!

Sincerely Maria Guardiola

Thank you in advanced and God Bless!

-- Maria DeJesus Guardiola (maria_guardiola@valic.com), December 11, 2000

Answers

Hi Maria,

If this is the first marriage for both of you. No divorces in the past. Then it is simple. See the pastor of the Church you attend and explain that you wish to have your marriage validated. This might require some preparation it depends on the pastor or Bishop. As long as the pastor feels that you will raise your children in the Catholic Faith there should be no reason that he would not Baptize them.

Br. Rich SFO

-- Br. Rich SFO (repsfo@prodigy.net), December 11, 2000.

Dear Maria,

Congratulations on the joyous birth of your son! First things first, for your son to be baptized by a Catholic Priest, at least ONE of his parents must be Catholic. My babies were baptized by a Catholic Priest even before I completed RCIA and before my husband and I were married in the church, because my husband IS Catholic already. Our non-sacramental marriage had no effect on their baptism.

So if one or both of you is Catholic, just contact your parish office and find out if they offer an infant baptism preparation class. In my area, these are lead by Deacons or Pastoral Associate Sisters. Usually, once you submit your proof that one parent is Catholic, and attend this preparation class, you can schedule your child's baptism.

Good luck! And once again, congratulations!

-- Tiesha Johnson (tieshann@aol.com), December 12, 2000.