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Water is poured on the head of an infant held over the baptismal font of a Roman Catholic church. Infant baptism [1] [2] (or paedobaptism) is the practice of baptizing infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism.
The Roman Catholic view is that baptism is necessary for salvation and that it frees the recipient from original sin. Roman Catholic tradition teaches that unbaptized infants, not being freed from original sin, go to Limbo (Latin: limbus infantium), which is an afterlife condition distinct from Hell. This is not, however, official church dogma.
German Reformed liberation theologian Jürgen Moltmann, on the other hand, saw infant baptism as inappropriately associated with the national church. He saw baptism as properly a free response God's call to discipleship. [25] Reformed churches have generally maintained the practice of infant baptism despite these critiques. [26]
In these traditions the Eucharist and Confirmation are postponed until the child achieves the age of self-awareness. Adults are normally baptized after enrollment as a catechumen , either formally, as in the Latin Church , or more informally, as in some Eastern Catholic Churches.
The Paschal homily or sermon (also known in Greek as Hieratikon or as the Catechetical Homily) of St. John Chrysostom (died 407) is read aloud at Paschal matins, the service that begins Easter, in Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches. According to the tradition of the Church, no one sits during the reading of the Paschal homily.
As regards children who die without baptism, the Church entrusts them to the mercy of God. In Roman Catholic teaching, baptism, like all the sacraments, presupposes faith and by words and objects also nourishes, strengthens, and expresses it. Baptism is the sacrament of faith (cf. Mark 16:16). But faith needs the community of believers.
Baptismal vows are the renunciations required of an adult candidate for baptism just before the sacrament is conferred. [1] In the case of an infant baptism they are given by the godparents (sponsors) or parents themselves. In many Christian denominations, the taking of baptismal vows incorporates a person into church membership. [2]
The very first point of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states that God's "plan of sheer goodness" is oriented towards man's divine filiation: "In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life." (CCC 1; italics added)