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Emergency baptism
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Emergency baptism
An emergency baptism is a baptism administered to a person in immediate danger of death. This can be a person of any age, but is often used in reference to the baptism of a newborn infant. The baptism can be performed by a person not normally authorized to administer the sacraments.
There is evidence that infant and child baptisms have been performed since early Christianity, at least by the time of Tertullian in the 1st century CE and certainly was a regular—albeit abnormal—occurrence by the time of Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century CE. Scholars such as Everett Ferguson believe this was not a routine practice, and instead, anyone in immediate danger of death could be baptized, regardless of their age.
Multiple instances of emergency baptisms survive in the form of epitaphs in Rome, Naples, Greece, North Africa, and elsewhere. Inscriptions often use language like "neophyte" or "received grace", rather than explicitly using the term "baptism". Perhaps one of the earliest examples of an emergency baptism was recorded at the Catacomb of Callixtus and dates to c. 268 CE, in which Marcianus, aged 12, was baptized and died the next day. Another example has been dated to c. 314 CE, which describes the baptism of a Greek Christian child, Julia Florentina of Hybla, aged 18 months, who was "made a believer in the eighth hour of the night, almost drawing her last breath" and died four hours later. For many Christians, it was preferable to push baptism as close to the time of death as possible, in order to cleanse the soul of as many sins as possible. However, the high rate of infant mortality before the advent of modern medicine may have been a catalyst for the later push to baptize infants soon after birth.
As the centuries progressed, midwives were expected to be able to perform an emergency baptism in the absence of an ordained priest. In 16th-century Germany, Martin Luther raised concerns that, in the case an infant survived after an emergency baptism had been performed by a midwife or other bystander, a second baptism to correct any errors would count as a rebaptism and should be avoided. In response, this put pressure on midwives to get the ceremony correct in the first place. In Nuremberg, midwives were held to the Jachtauffen, the midwifery ordinance dealing with emergency baptisms, and swearing their oath included confirmation of their confidence in it. This scrutiny continued into the next century; 17th-century midwifery reforms in the Schwarzburg provinces required midwives to be approved by the town's pastor, and they were expected to be pious and unwaveringly spiritual.
Elsewhere in the Holy Roman Empire, Anabaptist families consciously refused to perform infant baptisms, even in case of imminent death; for this and other beliefs that deviated from Catholic teachings, they were subject to heavy discrimination, which could include banishment or execution. Although they held similar views on emergency baptism, Dutch Reformed customs relied on geography, as they tried to distance themselves from Anabaptists to avoid punishment. Those in locales where anti-Anabaptist sentiment was strong pushed their parishioners to baptize as soon as possible. By contrast, in areas where the Reformed church was not held under such scrutiny, priests encouraged parents to bring the ailing newborn to the next Sunday Mass for the baptism.
In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, the ordinary minister of baptism is a bishop, priest, or deacon (canon 861 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law), and in normal circumstances, only the parish priest of the person to be baptized, or someone authorized by the parish priest may do so licitly (canon 530). "If the ordinary minister is absent or impeded, a catechist or some other person deputed to this office by the local Ordinary, may lawfully confer baptism; indeed, in a case of necessity, any person who has the requisite intention may do so (canon 861 §2), even a non-Catholic or a non-Christian.
By "a case of necessity" is principally meant imminent danger of death because of either illness or an external threat. "The requisite intention" is, at the minimum level, the intention "to do what the Church does" through the rite of baptism.[unreliable source?]
The Latin Church considers that the effect of the sacrament is not produced by the person who baptizes, but by the Holy Spirit.[citation needed]
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Emergency baptism
An emergency baptism is a baptism administered to a person in immediate danger of death. This can be a person of any age, but is often used in reference to the baptism of a newborn infant. The baptism can be performed by a person not normally authorized to administer the sacraments.
There is evidence that infant and child baptisms have been performed since early Christianity, at least by the time of Tertullian in the 1st century CE and certainly was a regular—albeit abnormal—occurrence by the time of Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century CE. Scholars such as Everett Ferguson believe this was not a routine practice, and instead, anyone in immediate danger of death could be baptized, regardless of their age.
Multiple instances of emergency baptisms survive in the form of epitaphs in Rome, Naples, Greece, North Africa, and elsewhere. Inscriptions often use language like "neophyte" or "received grace", rather than explicitly using the term "baptism". Perhaps one of the earliest examples of an emergency baptism was recorded at the Catacomb of Callixtus and dates to c. 268 CE, in which Marcianus, aged 12, was baptized and died the next day. Another example has been dated to c. 314 CE, which describes the baptism of a Greek Christian child, Julia Florentina of Hybla, aged 18 months, who was "made a believer in the eighth hour of the night, almost drawing her last breath" and died four hours later. For many Christians, it was preferable to push baptism as close to the time of death as possible, in order to cleanse the soul of as many sins as possible. However, the high rate of infant mortality before the advent of modern medicine may have been a catalyst for the later push to baptize infants soon after birth.
As the centuries progressed, midwives were expected to be able to perform an emergency baptism in the absence of an ordained priest. In 16th-century Germany, Martin Luther raised concerns that, in the case an infant survived after an emergency baptism had been performed by a midwife or other bystander, a second baptism to correct any errors would count as a rebaptism and should be avoided. In response, this put pressure on midwives to get the ceremony correct in the first place. In Nuremberg, midwives were held to the Jachtauffen, the midwifery ordinance dealing with emergency baptisms, and swearing their oath included confirmation of their confidence in it. This scrutiny continued into the next century; 17th-century midwifery reforms in the Schwarzburg provinces required midwives to be approved by the town's pastor, and they were expected to be pious and unwaveringly spiritual.
Elsewhere in the Holy Roman Empire, Anabaptist families consciously refused to perform infant baptisms, even in case of imminent death; for this and other beliefs that deviated from Catholic teachings, they were subject to heavy discrimination, which could include banishment or execution. Although they held similar views on emergency baptism, Dutch Reformed customs relied on geography, as they tried to distance themselves from Anabaptists to avoid punishment. Those in locales where anti-Anabaptist sentiment was strong pushed their parishioners to baptize as soon as possible. By contrast, in areas where the Reformed church was not held under such scrutiny, priests encouraged parents to bring the ailing newborn to the next Sunday Mass for the baptism.
In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, the ordinary minister of baptism is a bishop, priest, or deacon (canon 861 §1 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law), and in normal circumstances, only the parish priest of the person to be baptized, or someone authorized by the parish priest may do so licitly (canon 530). "If the ordinary minister is absent or impeded, a catechist or some other person deputed to this office by the local Ordinary, may lawfully confer baptism; indeed, in a case of necessity, any person who has the requisite intention may do so (canon 861 §2), even a non-Catholic or a non-Christian.
By "a case of necessity" is principally meant imminent danger of death because of either illness or an external threat. "The requisite intention" is, at the minimum level, the intention "to do what the Church does" through the rite of baptism.[unreliable source?]
The Latin Church considers that the effect of the sacrament is not produced by the person who baptizes, but by the Holy Spirit.[citation needed]
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