I have attended an RCIA program since May 2004. I was advised that if I had been baptized before that I would need to present some sort of certificate, which I do not have now. I was baptized when I was 13 or 14 years old in a Southern Baptist church. Today, I'm 41, and its been almost 30 years ago when I did this. I've contacted the protestant church, and frankly, they have been zero help in giving me any documentation. Personally, I would prefer to be fully baptized this Easter in the Catholic church. Any advice greatly appreciated.

-- Alan (ukgrad89@yahoo.com), January 30, 2005

Answers

Bump to the top.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), January 30, 2005.

You are baptised. The most you should expect now is the ''conditional'' baptismal rite: ''If you are not baptised, I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.''

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), January 30, 2005.

If you do not have official documentation, the Church will generally accept sworn testimony from eye witnesses. Is there anyone currently alive and accessible who was present at your baptism, and who could provide such sworn written testimony? If no kind of verification is possible, then conditional baptism, as Eugene said, can be done.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 30, 2005.

Hello, and thanks for the quick responses. Do you think parents would qualify as witnesses? Beyond that, I'd be more than happy if the church would give me a conditional baptism, as long as it qualifies me to participate in the eucharist and be considered in full communion with the Church. Curiousity question: if I did go the conditional baptism route--would I still need to do confession? Thanks so much for all your advice.

-- Alan (ukgrad89@yahoo.com), January 30, 2005.

Alan, congratulations on coming home to the true Church. Yes your parents, if they were present, are acceptable as people who can sign a sworn statement that you were baptized.

“would I still need to do confession?” Not sure what you mean by this. When an adult is baptized he is immediately eligible to receive the Eucharist. Baptism removes the stain of sin just as Confession (Reconciliation) does. After you are baptized a Catholic, your minimum obligation is to receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Lent/Easter season. IF after being baptized you commit a mortal sin, you are obliged to confess and be absolved of this sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before again receiving the Eucharist.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), January 30, 2005.

Thanks again. This is something that has really been worrying me, even though I'm sure I'm not the only one who lost their certificate and can't get a church to provide a copy. As for the confession question, I think I got an answer. I certainly am willing to go to confession, in fact, I'll probably need to do that more often at first as I learn what I need in order to live the catholic faith. Though I hope to avoid commiting any mortal sins of course. I'll need to learn what I need to do in order to confess, we haven't covered that yet in RCIA.

-- Alan (ukgrad89@yahoo.com), January 30, 2005.

I haven't really come across the question before, but I believe you probably should go to Confession before receiving a conditional Baptism. The whole point of conditional Baptism is that you are not sure whether you are already baptized. If you are already baptized, then the "conditional baptism" is not actually a baptism at all, since you can't be baptized twice. Therefore I believe you should not count on the graces of baptism, including full remission of all sin, through a conditional Baptism, but rather should make sure you are already in the state of grace before receiving conditional Baptism.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 31, 2005.

Here's the essence of it: if the Southern Baptists baptised you in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church does, then it was a valid Catholic baptism. The minimums for meeting the essence of a Catholic sacrament are pretty low, to put it loosely.

In case you can't find out for sure, the advice on obtaining a conditional baptism is rock solid. If you don't know for sure, you can go this route.

Remember, anybody can baptise you, even conditionally, anytime, anywhere, so long as the matter and form are intact: water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and with the intention of doing what the Church does.

There shouldn't be any problems, ultimately, in making sure all is legit.

Welcome to the Catholic Church!

-- Emerald (em@cox.net), January 31, 2005.

If current trends are not halted, this visible Church of the centuries will be replaced by an invisible fellowship wherein membership and the "sacraments" will all be available by "desire," even "implicit desire." There will be no boundaries, no "outside;" everybody will be "inside!" This is the Masonic plan for the church of the future, the One World Church!

-- JS (A@A.com), January 31, 2005.

Actually it is also the plan of Christ - that ALL may be ONE.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 31, 2005.

I truly want to thank all for responding to my question. My RCIA instructor has advised me to simply get statements from my parents regarding my baptism. I brought up the idea of a conditional baptism, but my instructor said that it would not be necessary. I will be doing a full confession prior to Easter, of course. And, as opposed to many cradle catholics, I can tell you what my baptism was like, and yes, I was baptized in a very full tub of water in front of an entire church. Think scuba...lol! And I do feel that I was reborn at that point as a christian, albeit as a noncatholic. This will be changed soon, as I will be in full communion with the catholic church, embracing all of the doctrine, beliefs, values, and authority of the Pope and the Church. Thanks again, and peace to all of you.

-- Alan (ukgrad89@yahoo.com), February 12, 2005.