ROME CONDEMNS A MODERNIST FORMULA THAT INVALIDATES THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

In an official statement, the Vatican has indicated that Baptism is not valid when these words are used with a modified formula invented by Modernists.

Vatican, 7.08.2020. - Changing the words of the formula for baptism render the sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Specifically, a Baptism administered with the formula “We baptize you …” instead of “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” is not valid because it is the person of Christ through the minister who is acting, not the assembly.

The doctrinal congregation’s ruling was published yesterday as a brief response to questions regarding the validity of Baptisms using that modified formula.

The congregation was asked whether a Baptism was valid if it had been performed with a formula that seeks to express the “communitarian significance” and participation of the family and those present during the celebration.

INVALID BAPTISM

For example, it said there have been celebrations administered with the words:

“In the name of the father and of the mother, of the godfather and of the godmother, of the grandparents, of the family members, of the friends, in the name of the community we baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.”

A Baptism administered with this kind of modified formula is not valid, the Congregation said, and the Baptisms would have to be redone for those individuals who had been baptized with the improvised wording.

VALID BAPTISM

The correct formula in the Rite of the Sacrament of Baptism spoken by the bishop, priest or deacon is:

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

The doctrinal congregation said modifying “the form of the celebration of a sacrament does not constitute simply a liturgical abuse, like the transgression of a positive norm, but a ‘vulnus’ (wound) inflicted upon the ecclesial communion and the identifiability of Christ’s action, and in the most grave cases rendering invalid the sacrament itself".