David Ancell / Wednesday February 23, 2022
Yes, it’s true. If a priest administering the Sacraments uses the wrong words, the Sacrament can be (and often is) invalid. It’s now been in the news for a little while, and I saw another article just published this month on the effects of this in regards to Baptism. I think there is a lot of misunderstanding around this that needs to be cleared up.
When a story like this break, the reaction of many people, including many Catholics, may be something along the lines of “how could God not give someone the Sacrament just because the wrong words are used. How legalistic!” Somehow it has been drilled into us that the externals are just trivial things that we needn’t worry about. One secular article that I wrote (but won’t link) even said that this is indicative of a problem that Pope Francis spoke about. However, Pope Francis approved the statement saying that a certain formula was invalid (see the italics directly under the questions in English).
I want to ask that we take a look at this. If we are inclined to react by asking why this is a big deal, let’s ask another question. Why aren’t we asking something along the lines of “Why does a priest or deacon need to use words other than the ones prescribed by the Church? Just use the form prescribed! How hard is it?”
I can’t think of any reason why it is actually more difficult for a priest or deacon who baptized someone to say “I baptize you . . .” rather than “We baptize you . . .” The correct way to say this even has the same number of syllables and fewer letters than the incorrect form. I’m sure it’s written right in the Church’s rite where it can be easily read.
There definitely are concerns here. They often have to do with poor formation rather than a real disregard for the Sacraments. That’s not to say that there aren’t at least some people who don’t like what the Church really is and stands for, but there is probably even more lack of formation in our mindset towards the things of God.
I’ll explain more in part 2, but here’s a good article from Catholic News Agency that is helpful.
Category: Cathechesis, Catholic, Response
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About Those Invalid Baptisms, Part 2 »
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