Thursday, April 2, 2015

GOOD QUESTION - UPDATED

And one that has been asked many times with no answer"

Dear Tim,

A relative of mine will be baptizing her new baby at the neo celebration of the Easter Vigil which I am told will be Bishop Baumgartner school gym. Do you know which parish the baby's baptism will get recorded at? Will it be at St. Jude's since that is the parish where the baptism will occur?
Signed, 

Confused
If anyone knows the answer, please post. 


***** LATER ENTRY *****


Relative to the location of baptism outside of a parish, Archbishop Apuron has decreed thus:
Outside the case of necessity, it is not lawful for one to confer the sacrament outside of his own parish without the proper permission. - III. A. The Sacrament of Baptism, Handbook of Faculties - Archdiocese of Agana, Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, December 22, 2006

The handbook references the relevant section of Canon Law which reads:
Can.  857 §1. Apart from a case of necessity, the proper place of baptism is a church or oratory.

§2. As a rule an adult is to be baptized in his or her parish church and an infant in the parish church of the parents unless a just cause suggests otherwise.

Can.  860 §1. Apart from a case of necessity, baptism is not to be conferred in private houses, unless the local ordinary has permitted it for a grave cause.

§2. Except in a case of necessity or for some other compelling pastoral reason, baptism is not to be celebrated in hospitals unless the diocesan bishop has established otherwise.

So apparently, Archbishop Apuron is permitting all these gymnasium baptisms "for a grave cause" (Can. 860 §1.)

Relative to the recordation of the baptism, church law requires thus:
Can.  877 §1. The pastor of the place where the baptism is celebrated must carefully and without any delay record in the baptismal register the names of the baptized, with mention made of the minister, parents, sponsors, witnesses, if any, the place and date of the conferral of the baptism, and the date and place of birth.

No exception is given in the law for the recording of the baptism. It must be recorded by the pastor of the place where the baptism is celebrated. The Bishop Baumgartner gymnasium is in the parish of St. Jude. The baptism must be recorded by "the pastor of the place".

But then Catholic Church law only applies to Catholics, so no worries for Archbishop Apuron and the neos over at the gym.


8 comments:

  1. Whatever parish community they belong to is where it will be recorded. If baptism takes place in hotel and is performed by Adrian then it will be recorded in Barrigada.

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    Replies
    1. Then as per my update to this post, if they are not a member of St. Jude's they are violating both Canon Law and the Archbishop's own statute.

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    2. By default they do not belong to any parish because they have their own vigil service outside of the parish. Another violation is that they are having a liturgy without having informed the pastor of whose territory they are having it. These in addition to what Tim has already mentioned.

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  2. A few families who have left the Neocatechumenal Way have found it VERY DIFFICULT to get the baptismal certificates for their children who were baptized at an NCW vigil...very difficult. Almost as difficult as getting an annulment if your spouse is still in the NCW.

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    Replies
    1. In the late 1980's as the sacristan of the cathedral basilica, I also volunteered many hours at the Chancery office. A copy of the baptismal record is kept at the Chancery office in San Ramon Hill.... This is provided that the NEO presbyter managed to send it to this office, per cannon law. Peace of Christ be with you and your family.

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  3. I asked my confessor. He looked wide eyed that some one would think of this. Then he said he doesn't know.

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  4. Where do you enter the baptism record of a baby baptized in a hotel?

    I guess they just enter the record in one of the parish records? Or do the NCW keep their own sacramental records?

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  5. Oh boy, we got a ton of mess when this real mess is over. Looks like we are only seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg. All this has happened because of an archbishop who gave over his authority to the winds of an itinerant breeze that refuses to move out.

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