baptism for the adopted

While in Russia for our court trip, we learned the Baby Home Director in the Baby Home Skip came from took it upon himself to personally bring all the new children to the Orthodox church for s simple baptism. They all have little crosses as a rememberance. We are pleased that he cared enough to do this, and feel there's no reason to "re-baptize" him. This is just our personal feelings, of course. Judy

Waiting4Skip...You can correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that, in the Catholic Church, you are not allowed to "re-baptize". Our son came home when he was 19 months old and we had him baptized 2 weeks later. One of the things that really stick out in my mind was the priest saying "once you are baptized, you cannot do it again or undo it". Also, let me add that we had no idea if our son was baptized or not, so we decided to do it anyway. I don't think we will be punished for doing it again... if he was already baptized in Romania.:p Kathi :)

bbonnie: If you get the parent's permission you can have your baby baptized. Read on... We are fp to a medically fragile baby. It was important to US that he be Baptized (in case he should die before we adopted him) so we asked his worker her thoughts. She had no problem. I then spoke to his Mom and Grandmother and they both said, "he's with you, what you feel is right is fine with us." His adoption will NOT be finalized until sometime late next year. In August we contacted our Church on a Thursday and he was Baptized that Sunday! He was baptized in August of 04. At that time his plan was still reunification (they still haven't petitioned for TPR, that won't happen until January). We invited his family to the Baptism and to the party afterwards, they didn't come. One more thing we found out....In case anyone else should ever need to know: At C's baptism my dh spoke to the priest about last rights. The priest told him that C would not need them (C funtions at a 3 week old level and will always be at that level). He said that when a child dies they become angels, but that C will become a new Saint as he will never tarnish his soul! Just thought I'd share that information too. I feel so honored to be able to parent him during his time here on Earth. Michelle

I am not a Catholic, but, I am an adoptive parent. When you adopt a child, this child is yours. It's only natural to make him part of your community, to teach him your values, beliefs and faith. As a Catholic, it's difficult to raise your child a Protestant. Because the Protestant faith isn't part of your life and you have different beliefs. You may want to give an older child a chance to choose, however, I think that every child wants to belong to his family totally. So it's not unrealistic to expect him to want to be Catholic like you. Good Luck!

Older children have to agree to be baptized or the church won't baptize them. My daughter was given lessons, and then interviewed by the priest. She was acting out a lot at this time, so I honestly was not sure how she would answer. But you are right. Children want to be totally part of the family and that includes the faith you practice.

I have a question about baptism in the Catholic Church. If/when I adopt a child (from Russia) I may find that he/she has been baptized Russian Orthodox already. I realize that the Catholic Church can not "re-baptize" anyone who has been baptized in a Christian faith. HOWEVER: what will this mean in terms of the other sacraments? Obviously I plan to raise my child Catholic, but will this be a problem later on when it's time for First Communion/Penance, Marriage, etc? A Baptismal certificate is asked for in advance of each of these sacraments.... How then, does my child become Catholic, if he wasn't baptized Catholic originally? Will he have to do something extra later on, like a RCIA-type program? Or be "interviewed" by a priest when Catholicism will be the only religion he's ever known? Just want to do the right thing; for those of you whose kids were baptized in their birth countries, what did you do to "officially" bring the child into the Catholic Church?

If there is no paperwork to prove baptism, ask your Parish priest and they should be able to tell you. :)

JLW, As yesterday was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord our priest gave a great homily on this. He said that the reason we don't rebaptize is because ANY Christian baptism bestows on a soul its Christian identity. It's valid. If the child is younger and can still receive instruction prior to the sacraments, you nor the child should not have to do anything additional to receive the other sacraments of initiation. The child will become Catholic by receiving First Communion and then full communion with Confirmation. I also THINK Russian Orthodox would be considered Catholic in any event, they definitely have the sacraments and transubstantiation. If the child is older and has missed the traditional age of the sacraments (probably just First Communion since Confirmation is done a little bit older) it would probably depend on the priest. I think the most correct way would be to go through RCIA for First Communion and Confirmation. However, some priests may allow just First Communion and then allow Confirmation with their peers later. Or some might allow some shorter private instruction for First Communion. My old parish used to do the "catch-up" thing but as of late their has been much more emphasis on the full RCIA process which I think most priests will advocate. Clear as mud, huh? The only glitch I can think of is not having the actual Baptism certificate. However, if the agency or someone knows that the child was baptized, perhaps you can request that document with the other adoption documents? Perhaps they might know the church since all the documents will be kept there? HTH.

The Catholic Church will do a conditional baptism if it is not clear if the child was previously baptised, or if the child was baptised in the correct form (in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit). It looks just the same as a regular baptism, but the priest instead says, "If you are not already baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The church also baptizes during Lent, though it will obviously be a more solemn affair. If your priest is refusing to baptize your baby during Lent, please find another priest who will or contact your bishop's office. You might like to show him the canons below. If that proves fruitless, then contact the [url="http://www.st-joseph-foundation.org/"]St. Joseph Foundation[/url] which helps Catholics assert their rights within the church. Though baptism may be celebrated on any day, it is recommended that normally it be celebrated on a Sunday or, if possible, on the vigil of Easter (canon 856; emphasis added). 1 Parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptized within the first few weeks. As soon as possible after the birth, indeed even before it, they are to approach the parish priest to ask for the sacrament for their child, and to be themselves duly prepared for it. ǧ2 If the infant is in danger of death, it is to be baptized without any delay (canon 867; emphasis added).

Hi everyone!I have not posted on this forum before but felt kind of compelled to do so. We are adopting from Guatemala. Hubby was baptised Southern Baptist, confirmed Methodist and married a Catholic!! What a mix! Anyway, I digress .... it never dawned on me to not baptize (we already agreed we would raise the children Catholic) a child we adopted from a predominatly non-Catholic country (Guatemala is Catholic but we had looked at others). I was raised in a very Irish Catholic family (priests and nuns and deacons -- OH MY!) so it was never really a thought.Sorry, I just had to add that ..... interesting reading these forums makes me think about stuff that never dawned on me! I suppose that is why they are so helpful!! :p Have a great day!Maura.

The church also baptizes during Lent, though it will obviously be a more solemn affair. If your priest is refusing to baptize your baby during Lent, please find another priest who will or contact your bishop's office. You might like to show him the canons below. FYI --- you can also contact a deacon, they can perform Baptisms as well

We've run into a problem in finding out IF our adoptive children have been baptised. Deacon won't let them take 1st comm/1st recon without a baptism certificate, and yet, it's been 6 months and the church has yet to be able to find any record. I asked about putting them into the 2 year (has to be the 2 yr program) for baptism and he said we needed to wait? Would the church fall apart if we just did it again? They want to take part in comm, and it's hard for them to wait. UGH! Such a mess.

Texas Jingles: I would first of all consult a priest on this: a deacon isn't the same thing when it comes to the finer points of canon law and theology, then I would ask about the conditional baptism someone mentioned above. I'd think 6 months is long enough to search for a baptismal cert, especially when the Church itself says that kids should be baptized sooner rather than later. Good Luck Also, it's an interesting point brought up by TAGGRR2: I realize the church teaches that baptism conveys an indelible mark on the soul, and that's why it isn't redone. But if it had been done in the past and there was no record of it on paper, this would lead to difficulties in the future for the child. I myself have had to produce a baptismal certificate for my own grammar school and high school attendance, my sacraments including marriage, and other things over the years. I realize that this is an important document if you're growing up Catholic, and so people will have to make their own decisions according to their own conscience. I'd think a child being baptized twice isn't really the worst that could happen to him or her. Just my opinion, Jen

TexasJingles,If there is any question as to whether or not your kiddos are baptised, the church should conditionally baptize them without delay. They should not have to go through RCIC/RCIA and have to wait to be baptized. (RCIC/RCIA would have them confirmed and receiving first communion at the same time.) Please call your diocese, say you've adopted your children, it is unclear whether the children were baptized so after 6 months of looking you are assuming--for their salvation's sake--that they were not and you want to have them conditionally baptized ASAP, but your priest is not accommodating you. The Canons place the age of reason at 7 yrs old (although it requires that age chronologically as well as developmentally), which means that your 8, 9, and 11 yr old children do not have the luxury of two years to wait around before being baptized. Unless their is some complicating factor, such as you just now entering the church and going through RCIA yourself, then I cannot understand delaying the children's baptisms. (The canonical age at which they can make these decisions for themselves is 14, so it isn't because of their ages.) ETA: JLW, if the Church knows that a baptism has occured elsewhere (and it will take the word of those who know such things if paper copies are unavailable for some reason), it creates a baptismal certificate for the person which notes where and when the baptism occured. Further sacraments are then notated on that baptismal certificate and it can be presented for any required paperwork. This really does not present a problem at all.

When you adopt your culture becomes the childs culture. If you raise the adopted child separate from what you believe youre going to isolate the child. Its as if the child isnt good enough to be raised in your culture. Culture is taught and learned not transferred or held in genes. When the child becomes an adult and wants to explore their roots thats a different story.