Posts Tagged ‘Baptism’

Oxford Oratory celebrates uptick in adults received into Catholic Church

Monday, February 12th, 2024

The Oxford Oratory reports that an increase in adults seeking to be received into the Catholic Church means that it has had to start special classes to cater for the influx. As a result, the Oratory has been responsible for 5 per cent of such application requests within its relevant Archdiocese during 2023. By the Read more

Lay theologians empowered to perform baptisms in German diocese

Monday, November 13th, 2023
Lay theologians

The Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in Germany has given the green light for twenty-six lay theologians, both male and female, to administer the sacrament of baptism during church liturgies. This decision follows in the footsteps of the Diocese of Essen, which in March allowed non-ordained theologians to conduct baptisms. Bishop Gebhard Fuerst officially commissioned these theologians Read more

Transgender people can be baptised

Thursday, November 9th, 2023
transgender

The Vatican has affirmed that transgender individuals are eligible to participate as godparents and witnesses in Roman Catholic sacraments of baptism and marriage, and they can be baptised. The Vatican’s document, signed by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, was published on the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith website on Read more

Soccer great Ronaldo Nazario baptised at age 46

Monday, September 18th, 2023

Tuesday was a special day for Ronaldo Luís Nazario da Lima, the Brazilian and world soccer legend nicknamed “O Fenômeno” (“The Phenomenon”), who at the age of 46 took a significant step in his life of faith by receiving the sacrament of baptism. After the ceremony at São José (St Joseph) Parish, located in the Read more

Pope Benedict ‘closed’ Limbo and no one complained

Monday, April 17th, 2023
Limbo

Many conservative Catholics are upset with Pope Francis, who they complain is changing church doctrine, but they hardly blinked when Pope Benedict got rid of Limbo, a Catholic doctrine that had been taught for centuries. Careful readers will note that rather than closing Limbo, as reported by the media, what the International Theological Commission did Read more

‘Burgers for baptism’: 13 year-old baptised without parents’ consent

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

Parents of a 13-year-old boy are angry a church baptised him without their knowledge at an event they say lured him to a park paddling pool font with burgers and lollies. Bay of Plenty mother Jesse Brown and her partner Luke were “shocked and upset” when their son came home from the park holding a Read more

Lay people permitted to officially baptise

Thursday, December 8th, 2022
officially baptise

A mother of a 5-month-old is pleasantly surprised that a woman would officially baptise her child in a Catholic parish church. The Baptism occurred last Sunday at St Hedwig’s Parish in the Catholic Diocese of Essen, in the Ruhr region of Western Germany. I had no particular expectations on this issue. Still, the fact that Read more

Baptising but not making people Christian

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

If the vast Catholic community in Africa is to truly become an “adult Church,” then “we must reimagine the participation of the laity”. That’s the belief of Alain Clément Amiézi, a theologian who was appointed by Pope Francis last June to lead the Diocese of Odienné in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Bishop-elect Amiézi, who has been Read more

The future of ministry: by whom and for whom?

Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
future of ministry

Meet any group of Catholics today and within minutes someone will mention that their diocese or local area is undergoing a “re-organization”. Parishes are being combined, the ordained ministers being spread more thinly around communities, and the access to gathering for Eucharistic activity is being curtailed. The process is sometimes given an elegant name derived Read more

De-baptism is gaining popularity in Italy

Monday, November 22nd, 2021
De-baptism

Like most of his fellow Italians, Mattia Nanetti, 25, from the northern city of Bologna, grew up with the teachings and sacraments of the Catholic Church in parochial school. Even his scouting group was Catholic. But in September 2019 he decided the time had come to leave the church behind. He filled out a form Read more