Why does the Catholic Church baptise infants?
The Catholic Church has baptised infants from the earliest centuries. Because infants are born with a fallen human nature tainted by original sin, they have urgent need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the freedom of God's children.
Baptism is pure gift. Salvation does not depend on our human intellect, achievements or earned merits; it is an entirely unearned gift of divine grace. In the New Testament, the Apostles baptised entire households, which naturally included children.
Just as Christian parents provide physical nourishment, shelter and medical care for their children before the child can ask for them, it is an act of parental love to give the child the greatest gift of all: spiritual life in Christ. Christian parents and godparents make the profession of faith on behalf of the infant, promising to raise them in the practice of the Catholic faith.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1250
- Acts 16:33
- Mark 10:14
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.