Baptism, the gateway to the sacraments and necessary for salvation by actual reception or at least by desire, is validly conferred only by a washing of true water with the proper form of words. Through baptism men and women are freed from sin, are reborn as children of God, and, configured to Christ by an indelible character, are incorporated into the Church.

Code of Canon Law

What is Baptism?

Baptism is the way out of the kingdom of death into life, the gateway to the Church, and the beginning of a lasting communion with God.

Baptism is the foundational Sacrament and the prerequisite for all other sacraments. It unites us with Jesus Christ, incorporates us into his redemptive death on the Cross, thereby freeing us from the power of Original Sin and all personal sins, and causes us to rise with him to a life without end. Since Baptism is a covenant with God, the individual must say “yes” to it. In the baptism of children, the parents confess the Faith on behalf of the children.
 

How is Baptism administered?

The classical form of administering Baptism is the threefold immersion of the candidate in the water. Usually, however, water is poured three times over the head of the candidate, while the minister of the sacrament speaks the words, “(Name), I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Water symbolizes cleansing and new life, which was already expressed in the baptism of repentance performed by John the Baptist. The Baptism that is administered with water “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” is more than a sign of conversion and repentance; it is new life in Christ. That is why the ceremony also includes the signs of anointing, the white garment, and the baptismal candle.

Who can be baptized, and what is required of a candidate?

Any person who is not yet baptized can be baptized. The only prerequisite for Baptism is faith, which must be professed publicly at the Baptism.

A person who turns to Christianity is not just changing a world view. He travels a path of learning (the Catechumenate), in which he becomes a new man through personal conversion, but especially through the gift of Baptism. He is now a living member of the Body of Christ.

Why does the Church adhere to the practice of infant Baptism?

From antiquity the Church has practiced infant Baptism. There is one reason for this: before we decide on God, God has decided on us. Baptism is therefore a grace, and under-served gift of God, who accepts us unconditionally. Believing parents who want what is best for their child want Baptism also, in which the child is freed from the influence of original sin and the power of death.

Infant Baptism presupposes that Christian parents will raise the baptized child in the faith. It is an injustice to deprive the child of Baptism out of a mistaken liberality. One cannot deprive a child of love so that he can later decide on love for himself; so too it would be an injustice if believing parents were to deprive their child of God’s grace in Baptism. Just as every person is born with the ability to speak yet must learn a language, so too every person is born with the capacity to believe but must become acquainted with the faith. At any rate, Baptism can never be imposed on anyone. If someone has received Baptism as a little child, he must “ratify” it later in life – this means he must say “yes” to it, so that it becomes fruitful.

Who can administer Baptism?

Normally a bishop, a priest or a deacon administers the sacrament of Baptism. In an emergency, any Christian, indeed anyone, can baptize by pouring water over the head of the recipient and pronouncing the baptismal formula, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism is so important that even a non-Christian can administer it. In doing so, however, he must have the intention of doing what the Church does when she baptizes.

Is Baptism in fact the only way to salvation?

For all those who have received the Gospel and have heard that Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), Baptism is the only way to God and salvation. At the same time, however, it is true that Christ died for all mankind. Therefore, all men who have had no opportunity to learn about Christ and the faith but seek God sincerely and live according to their conscience also find salvation (the so-called Baptism of desire).
 

God has made salvation dependent on the Sacraments. Therefore the Church must tirelessly offer them to mankind. To give up her missionary work would be a betrayal of God’s commission. God himself, however, is not dependent on his sacraments. In places where the Church does not exist or has had no success—whether by her own fault or for other reasons—God himself, paves for the people other ways to salvation in Christ.

What happens in Baptism?

In Baptism we become members of the Body of Christ, sisters and brothers of our Redeemer, and children of God. We are freed from sin, snatched from death, and destined from then on for a life in the joy of the redeemed.

Being baptized means that my personal life story is submerged in the stream of God’s love. “Our life”, says Pope Benedict XVI, “now belongs to Christ, and no longer to ourselves….  At his side and, indeed drawn up in his love, we are freed from fear. He enfolds us and carries us wherever we may go—he who is Life itself.” (April 7, 2007).

What is the significance of receiving a name in Baptism?

Through the name that we receive in Baptism God tells us: “I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Is 43:1).

In Baptism a person is not dissolved into an anonymous divinity, but rather is affirmed precisely in his individuality. To be baptized by a name signifies that God knows me; he says “yes” to me and accepts me forever in my unrepeatable uniqueness.

Why should Christians choose the names of saints at Baptism?

There are no better examples, than the saints and no better helpers. If my namesake is a saint, I have friend with God.

(Copy from YouCat, by Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn and reproduced with permission August 2013. “YouCat” is available at: http://www.ignatius.com/Products/CategoryCenter.aspx?SearchTerm=youcat)