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Merged Catholic Priest uses wrong word in baptism invalidates decades of baptisms

arthwollipot

Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
arthwollipot
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Well this isn't good.

US Catholic priest resigns after performing thousands of invalid baptisms over 20 years

One changed word may not seem like much.

But one Catholic priest's use of the word 'we' instead of 'I' during both English and Spanish language baptism ceremonies during his two decades in the ministry has left thousands of baptisms invalid in multiple parishes in two countries.

Father Andres Arango stood down from his role as a pastor with the Diocese of Phoenix in the United States earlier this month after it was revealed he had used this formula during the sacrament: "We baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".

Instead, he should have said the same words starting with "I baptise you … "

Fr Andres had previously worked as a priest in Brazil, in San Diego and within Arizona and he said he was saddened to learn he had performed "invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula".

It does not stop there, with the Diocese of Phoenix saying invalid baptisms would also invalidate subsequent confirmations, marriages and holy orders.
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For Catholics, this is a very big deal. The sacraments may seem trivial to us, but to a Catholic they are critical to salvation. And they are, apparently, completely invalidated by the improper use of the first person plural.


Posted By: jimbob
 
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So, we know now that grammar is more important to the RCC than sexual and physical abuse of children. Good work all round! I hope they all feel very pleased with themselves.
 
The article says it invalidates marriages as well. I wonder if this is legally or in the eyes of the church? For example, if one of those involves says to their spouse "I want to marry somebody else next month" what would stop them?
 
The article also says the Catholics baptized with the wrong words have to redo the baptism and all the sacraments. Aren't the last rites a sacrament? Gonna be tough to get those people re-baptized.

ETA: I think marriage is a civil union. So you are still married if you got a marriage license from the government and an officiant signed it.
 
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slyjoe said:
The article also says the Catholics baptized with the wrong words have to redo the baptism and all the sacraments. Aren't the last rites a sacrament? Gonna be tough to get those people re-baptized.

ETA: I think marriage is a civil union. So you are still married if you got a marriage license from the government and an officiant signed it.
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Yes, but if you get divorced, the church won't be able to say you can't remarry since you were never married in the first place.

Of course, since this has been 20 years, not an awful lot of those kids will have married by now.
 
Trebuchet said:
Yes, but if you get divorced, the church won't be able to say you can't remarry since you were never married in the first place.

Of course, since this has been 20 years, not an awful lot of those kids will have married by now.
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Adults (converts) can be baptized in the Catholic church, correct?
 
arthwollipot said:
Well this isn't good.

US Catholic priest resigns after performing thousands of invalid baptisms over 20 years

For Catholics, this is a very big deal. The sacraments may seem trivial to us, but to a Catholic they are critical to salvation. And they are, apparently, completely invalidated by the improper use of the first person plural.
Click to expand...


Ahh ..... those Catholics can get into a tizz about the silliest things. How many years after Jesus was supposedly strutting his stuff, was it until the "One True Church", came up with the correct wording? What words did John The Baptist use I wonder.
 
The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix ultimately made the call to expose the minister's error and make it public.

“It is not the community that baptizes a person and incorporates them into the Church of Christ; rather, it is Christ, and Christ alone, who presides at all sacraments,” said the diocese.

“Therefore, it is Christ who baptizes. If you were baptized using the wrong words, that means your baptism is invalid, and you are not baptized.”


So I guess all those kids are going to hell, right?
the ludicrousness of dogmatic religion
 
Dave Rogers said:
Presumably the Holy Spirit doesn't have the authority to over-rule this?

Dave
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I was wondering What Would Jesus Do, as such people are wont to ask.

My guess would be that he'd say something along the lines of 'Sorry, administrative screw-up there, it's all good'.
 
malbui said:
I was wondering What Would Jesus Do, as such people are wont to ask.

My guess would be that he'd say something along the lines of 'Sorry, administrative screw-up there, it's all good'.
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Doubt it - it would simply be "that's the way the cookie crumbles".
 
Rules are rules, baby. Are you going to argue with a cop that you didn't stop at a stop sign because you thought it said "step", so you stepped on the accelerator?

Really weird they the Church would insist that Christ presided over the sacrament, but the priest pulls rank.
 
I thought baptism was all symbolic anyway? How could a priest with a reading comprehension problem send someone else to one of Bosch's nightmares of tongue frying?
 
St. Peter: Sorry, my hands are tied. The best I can do is put you back in purgatory while the customer service department sorts this out. They have your case on file, so they should get back to you within ten thousand years or so. Again sorry, but you understand these sorts of paperwork mistakes happen from time to time.
 
People already complain about the tedious hoops that the Catholic church wants people to jump through to have a church wedding, I imagine finding out your baptism decades ago didn't count so you gotta redo it before any further sacrements (like a wedding) can be performed would the tipping point for all but the most devout.

This kind of nonsense seems like the perfect time to find an off-ramp to this tedious pederast club that runs a church.
 
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