ARTICLE 2 - LITURGICAL DIVERSITY AND
THE UNITY OF THE MYSTERY
Liturgical traditions and the catholicity of the Church
1200 From the first community of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same Paschal
mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith, celebrate in every
place. The mystery celebrated in the liturgy is one, but the forms of its celebration are
diverse.
1201 The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by its
expression in any single liturgical tradition. The history of the blossoming and
development of these rites witnesses to a remarkable complementarity. When the
Churches lived their respective liturgical traditions in the communion of the faith and
the sacraments of the faith, they enriched one another and grew in fidelity to Tradition
and to the common mission of the whole Church.[66]
1202 The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's mission.
Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate the mystery of
Christ through particular expressions characterized by the culture: in the tradition of the
"deposit of faith,"[67] in liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal
communion, in the theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of
holiness. Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation of all
peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which that Church is
sent and in which she is rooted. The Church is catholic, capable of integrating into her
unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches of cultures.[68]
1203 The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin
(principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such as the
Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine, Alexandrian or
Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In "faithful obedience to
tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully
recognized rites to be of equal right and dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in
the future and to foster them in every way."[69]
Liturgy and culture
1204 The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and
culture of the different peoples.[70] In order that the mystery of Christ be "made known
to all the nations . . . to bring about the obedience of faith,"[71] it must be proclaimed,
celebrated, and lived in all cultures in such a way that they themselves are not abolished
by it, but redeemed and fulfilled:[72] It is with and through their own human culture,
assumed and transfigured by Christ, that the multitude of God's children has access to
the Father, in order to glorify him in the one Spirit.
1205 "In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable part, a part
that is divinely instituted and of which the Church is the guardian, and parts that can be
changed, which the Church has the power and on occasion also the duty to adapt to the
cultures of recently evangelized peoples."[73]
1206 "Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke
tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it is clear that
diversity must not damage unity. It must express only fidelity to the common faith, to
the sacramental signs that the Church has received from Christ, and to hierarchical
communion. Cultural adaptation also requires a conversion of heart and even, where
necessary, a breaking with ancestral customs incompatible with the Catholic faith."[74]
IN BRIEF
1207 It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the
people where the Church finds herself, though without being submissive to it.
Moreover, the liturgy itself generates cultures and shapes them.
1208 The diverse liturgical traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the
catholicity of the Church, because they signify and communicate the same mystery of
Christ.
1209 The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity
to apostolic Tradition, i e., the communion in the faith and the sacraments received from
the apostles, a communion that is both signified and guaranteed by apostolic succession.
SECTION TWO - THE SEVEN
SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
1210 Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism,
Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy
Orders and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important
moments of Christian life:[1] they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the
Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural
life and the stages of the spiritual life.
1211 Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of
Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments
at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful. This order, while not the
only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in
which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the
Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other
sacraments are ordered to it as to their end."[2]
CHAPTER ONE - THE SACRAMENTS OF
CHRISTIAN INITIATION
1212 The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist -
lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to
men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and
nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the
sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By
means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure
the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity."[3]
ARTICLE 1 - THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the
Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),[4] and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become
members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission:
"Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."[5]
I. WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?
1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to
baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water
symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by
resurrection with him, as "a new creature."[6]
1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy
Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without
which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."[7]
1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical]
instruction are enlightened in their understanding
. . . ."[8] Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light that enlightens every
man," the person baptized has been "enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed,
he becomes "light" himself:[9]
Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift....We call it gift, grace, anointing,
enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It
is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace
since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing
for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it
radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is
our guard and the sign of God's Lordship.[10]
II. BAPTISM IN THE ECONOMY OF
SALVATION
Prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Covenant
1217 In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water, the
Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that already
prefigured the mystery of Baptism:
Father, you give us grace through sacramental signs which tell us of the wonders of
your unseen power.
In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace
you give us in this sacrament.[11]
1218 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has
been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as "oveshadowed" by the
Spirit of God:[12]
At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them the
wellspring of all holiness.[13]
1219 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it
"a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water":[14]
The waters of the great flood you made a sign of the waters of Baptism, that make an
end of sin and a new beginning of goodness.[15]
1220 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a
symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism
Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death.
1221 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the
slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:
You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh, bringing them dryshod
through the waters of the Red Sea, to be an image of the people set free in
Baptism.[16]
1222 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the
People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an
image of eternal life. The promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled in the New
Covenant.
Christ's Baptism
1223 All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He
begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the
Jordan.[17] After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his apostles: "Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you."[18]
1224 Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for
sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness."[19] Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his
self-emptying.[20] The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation
descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed
Jesus as his "beloved Son."[21]
1225 In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already
spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as a "Baptism" with
which he had to be baptized.[22] The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side
of the crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments of new
life.[23] From then on, it is possible "to be born of water and the Spirit"[24] in order to
enter the Kingdom of God.
See where you are baptized, see where Baptism comes from, if not from the cross of
Christ, from his death. There is the whole mystery: he died for you. In him you are
redeemed, in him you are saved.[25]
Baptism in the Church
1226 From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy
Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: "Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."[26] The apostles and their
collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing,
pagans.[27] Always, Baptism is seen as connected with faith: "Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved, you and your household," St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi.
And the narrative continues, the jailer "was baptized at once, with all his family."[28]
1227 According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into
communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in
newness of life.[29]
The baptized have "put on Christ."[30] Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that
purifies, justifies, and sanctifies.[31]
1228 Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of
God produces its life-giving effect.[32] St. Augustine says of Baptism: "The word is
brought to the material element, and it becomes a sacrament."[33]
III. HOW IS THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
CELEBRATED?
Christian Initiation
1229 From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a
journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly,
but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word,
acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion.
1230 This initiation has varied greatly through the centuries according to circumstances.
In the first centuries of the Church, Christian initiation saw considerable development.
A long period of catechumenate included a series of preparatory rites, which were
liturgical landmarks along the path of catechumenal preparation and culminated in the
celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation.
1231 Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually
celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the preparatory stages of Christian
initiation in a very abridged way. By its very nature infant Baptism requires a postbaptismal
catechumenate. Not only is there a need for instruction after Baptism, but also
for the necessary flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth. The catechism has its
proper place here.
1232 The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church "the catechumenate for
adults, comprising several distinct steps."[34] The rites for these stages are to be found
in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).[35] The Council also gives
permission that: "In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian
tradition, those elements of initiation rites may be admitted which are already in use
among some peoples insofar as they can be adapted to the Christian ritual."[36]
1233 Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins
with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches its culmination in a single
celebration of the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the
Eucharist.[37] In the Eastern rites the Christian initiation of infants also begins with
Baptism followed immediately by Confirmation and the Eucharist, while in the Roman
rite it is followed by years of catechesis before being completed later by Confirmation
and the Eucharist, the summit of their Christian initiation.[38]
The mystagogy of the celebration
1234 The meaning and grace of the sacrament of Baptism are clearly seen in the rites of
its celebration. By following the gestures and words of this celebration with attentive
participation, the faithful are initiated into the riches this sacrament signifies and actually
brings about in each newly baptized person.
1235 The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint
of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the
redemption Christ won for us by his cross.
1236 The proclamation of the Word of God enlightens the candidates and the assembly
with the revealed truth and elicits the response of faith, which is inseparable from
Baptism. Indeed Baptism is "the sacrament of faith" in a particular way, since it is the
sacramental entry into the life of faith.
1237 Since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, one or
more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. The celebrant then anoints him
with the oil of catechumens, or lays his hands on him, and he explicitly renounces Satan.
Thus prepared, he is able to confess the faith of the Church, to which he will be
"entrusted" by Baptism.[39]
1238 The baptismal water is consecrated by a prayer of epiclesis (either at this moment
or at the Easter Vigil). The Church asks God that through his Son the power of the Holy
Spirit may be sent upon the water, so that those who will be baptized in it may be "born
of water and the Spirit."[40]
1239 The essential rite of the sacrament follows: Baptism properly speaking. It signifies
and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity
through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ. Baptism is performed in the
most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient
times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the
candidate's head.
1240 In the Latin Church this triple infusion is accompanied by the minister's words:
"N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In
the Eastern liturgies the catechumen turns toward the East and the priest says: "The
servant of God, N., is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit." At the invocation of each person of the Most Holy Trinity, the priest
immerses the candidate in the water and raises him up again.
1241 The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop,
signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian,
that is, one "anointed" by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed
priest, prophet, and king.[41]
1242 In the liturgy of the Eastern Churches, the post-baptismal anointing is the
sacrament of Chrismation (Confirmation). In the Roman liturgy the post- baptismal
anointing announces a second anointing with sacred chrism to be conferred later by the
bishop Confirmation, which will as it were "confirm" and complete the baptismal
anointing.
1243 The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has "put on Christ,"[42]
has risen with Christ. The candle, lit from the Easter candle, signifies that Christ has
enlightened the neophyte. In him the baptized are "the light of the world."[43]
The newly baptized is now, in the only Son, a child of God entitled to say the prayer of
the children of God: "Our Father."
1244 First Holy Communion. Having become a child of God clothed with the wedding
garment, the neophyte is admitted "to the marriage supper of the Lamb"[44] and
receives the food of the new life, the body and blood of Christ. The Eastern Churches
maintain a lively awareness of the unity of Christian initiation by giving Holy
Communion to all the newly baptized and confirmed, even little children, recalling the
Lord's words: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them."[45] The Latin
Church, which reserves admission to Holy Communion to those who have attained the
age of reason, expresses the orientation of Baptism to the Eucharist by having the newly
baptized child brought to the altar for the praying of the Our Father.
1245 The solemn blessing concludes the celebration of Baptism. At the Baptism of
newborns the blessing of the mother occupies a special place.
IV. WHO CAN RECEIVE BAPTISM?
1246 "Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is able to be baptized."[46]
The Baptism of adults
1247 Since the beginning of the Church, adult Baptism is the common practice where
the proclamation of the Gospel is still new. The catechumenate (preparation for
Baptism) therefore occupies an important place. This initiation into Christian faith and
life should dispose the catechumen to receive the gift of God in Baptism, Confirmation,
and the Eucharist.
1248 The catechumenate, or formation of catechumens, aims at bringing their
conversion and faith to maturity, in response to the divine initiative and in union with an
ecclesial community. The catechumenate is to be "a formation in the whole Christian life
. . . during which the disciples will be joined to Christ their teacher. The catechumens
should be properly initiated into the mystery of salvation and the practice of the
evangelical virtues, and they should be introduced into the life of faith, liturgy, and
charity of the People of God by successive sacred rites."[47]
1249 Catechumens "are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household
of Christ, and are quite frequently already living a life of faith, hope, and charity."[48]
"With love and solicitude mother Church already embraces them as her own."[49]
The Baptism of infants
1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have
need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought
into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called.[50]
The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant
Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of
becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth.[51]
1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as
nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them.[52]
1252 The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is
explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible
that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole "households" received
baptism, infants may also have been baptized.[53]
Faith and Baptism
1253 Baptism is the sacrament of faith.[54] But faith needs the community of believers.
It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. The faith
required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to
develop. The catechumen or the godparent is asked: "What do you ask of God's
Church?" The response is: "Faith!"
1254 For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this
reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renewal of baptismal
promises. Preparation for Baptism leads only to the threshold of new life. Baptism is the
source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth.
1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the
role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help
the newly baptized - child or adult on the road of Christian life.[55] Their task is a truly
ecclesial function (officium).[56] The whole ecclesial community bears some
responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism.
V. WHO CAN BAPTIZE?
1256 The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin
Church, also the deacon.[57] In case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person,
with the required intention, can baptize [NT], by using the Trinitarian baptismal
formula. The intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes.
The Church finds the reason for this possibility in the universal saving will of God and
the necessity of Baptism for salvation.[58]
VI. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.[59] He also
commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.[60]
Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed
and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.[61] The Church does not
know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is
why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that
all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to
the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.
1258 The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for
the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and
with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of
Baptism without being a sacrament.
1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it,
together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they
were not able to receive through the sacrament.
1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same
destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of
being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery."[62] Every man
who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does
the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be
supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its
necessity.
1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust
them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great
mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward
children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder
them,"[63] allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died
without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children
coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.
VII. THE GRACE OF BAPTISM
1262 The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the
sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but
also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins
and new birth in the Holy Spirit.[64]
For the forgiveness of sins . . .
1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all
punishment for sin.[65] In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would
impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor
the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.
1264 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering,
illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as
well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, "the
tinder for sin" (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it
cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus
Christ."[66] Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the
rules."[67]
"A new creature"
1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new
creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine
nature,"[68] member of Christ and co-heir with him,[69] and a temple of the Holy
Spirit.[70]
1266 The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of
justification:
- enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him through the
theological virtues;
- giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through
the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
- allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues.
Thus the whole organism of the Christian's supernatural life has its roots in Baptism.
Incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ
1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: "Therefore . . . we are members
one of another."[71] Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts
is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or
human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: "For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body."[72]
1268 The baptized have become "living stones" to be "built into a spiritual house, to be
a holy priesthood."[73] By Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his
prophetic and royal mission. They are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God's own people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called
[them] out of darkness into his marvelous light."[74] Baptism gives a share in the
common priesthood of all believers.
1269 Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer
to himself, but to him who died and rose for us.[75] From now on, he is called to be
subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church, and to "obey and
submit" to the Church's leaders,[76] holding them in respect and affection.[77] Just as
Baptism is the source of responsibilities and duties, the baptized person also enjoys
rights within the Church: to receive the sacraments, to be nourished with the Word of
God and to be sustained by the other spiritual helps of the Church.[78]
1270 "Reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they
have received from God through the Church" and participate in the apostolic and
missionary activity of the People of God.[79]
The sacramental bond of the unity of Christians
1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including
those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: "For men who
believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect,
communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are
incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with
good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church."[80]
"Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who
through it are reborn."[81]
An indelible spiritual mark . . .
1272 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ.
Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging
to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the
fruits of salvation.[82] Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.
1273 Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the
sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship.[83] The
baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in
the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness
of holy lives and practical charity.[84]
1274 The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord ("Dominicus character")
"for the day of redemption."[85] "Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life."[86] The
faithful Christian who has "kept the seal" until the end, remaining faithful to the
demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life "marked with the sign of
faith,"[87] with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God - the
consummation of faith - and in the hope of resurrection.
IN BRIEF
1275 Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is
the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist
which nourishes the disciple with Christ's Body and Blood for his transformation in
Christ.
1276 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you" (Mt 28:19-20).
1277 Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is
necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.
1278 The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or
pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness
of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an
adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this
very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and
made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.
1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which
consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism
cannot be repeated (cf. DS 1609 and DS 1624).
1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who,
without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God
sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, can be saved even if they have not been baptized
(cf. LG 16).
1282 Since the earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children, for it is a grace
and a gift of God that does not presuppose any human merit; children are baptized in
the faith of the Church. Entry into Christian life gives access to true freedom.
1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church
invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their salvation.
1284 In case of necessity, any person can baptize provided that he have the intention of
doing that which the Church does and provided that he pours water on the candidate's
head while saying: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit."
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