About infant baptism...
Other Christian churches wait until a person is old enough to understand
what is happening at baptism and to make her own choice. Why does
the Roman Catholic Church baptize babies?
Dear Inquirer,
 Good
 question!
In
the first century of the church, adult baptism was the norm, and
it was done through immersion into living (a stream) water. One symbolically
was plunged into the death and resurrection of Jesus and came forth
as "new"--a Christian. The newly baptized was then clothed in white,
anointed (Confirmation) and brought into the community where the Eucharist
was celebrated. Thus, the three sacraments of initiation into the Christian
life were celebrated: Baptism, Conformation and Eucharist. A period
of preparation took place before receiving these sacraments. It was
called the Catechumenate--a time (one year or so) of study, prayer and
being exorcised of bad and sinful habits.
In
the second century, as the Church developed and numbers increased,
more infants were born to christian families, and soon the adult ceremony
was simplified for infants. The sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist
were delayed until later in life when a person was maturer and could
understand the meaning of Holy Communion. Over the centuries infant
baptism became the norm and much of the ancient symbolism was modified.
The
Second Vatican Council instituted liturgical reforms that restored
some of the ancient symbolism where appropriate: immersion into flowing
water, immediate Confirmation and Communion for adult converts and preparation
of adults for Baptism by means of the Catechumenate.
Some
final points in this too brief history:
- The Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches always
preserved the three sacraments together, even for infants:
Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
- Development of the sacraments did not happen
at once; it took time for change to take
place. Parts of the church did not follow the same liturgy as Rome,
for example; some places quite frankly just did what they thought
was right and others that were so remote that it took years for communication
to take place.
- The question of the necessity of Baptism for
salvation disturbed many in the church.
There was great uncertainty in the church for a long time about unbaptized
infants. St. Augustine, for one, felt this problem keenly as seen
in his letter to St. Jerome around 400 AD: "When the question of the
punishment of children is raised, it troubles me sorely, I assure
you, and I am at a loss what to answer."
Perhaps,
early theologians considered the necessity of baptism of water too exclusively
without remembering that God wills that all attain eternal blessedness
and that Christ was born and died for all. Certainly, official church
teaching now embraces the possibility of salvation for all.
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