Canon Law and Baptismal Records

Q1:  Is a parish required to register an emergency baptism conferred by a layman?  Thanks. –Rimsky

Q2:  I have a question that I’m hoping you can help me with. Is it possible to baptize an infant at a parish located in a different Diocese than the one where the family is registered, while still recording the baptism with their home parish? –Khalil

A:  There are a number of different issues being raised by our two questioners, although of course they both involve the recording of a baptism in a parish’s baptismal registry.  Let’s first take a look at the basic rules regarding what you might call “sacramental record-keeping,” and then we’ll be able to tackle the more specific situations described here.

Canon 535.1 tells us that every parish is to keep registers in which baptisms, marriages, and deaths are recorded.  This is the responsibility of the parish priest, and is not optional—on the contrary, the canon stresses that these registers are to be “accurately inscribed and carefully preserved,” which indicates the importance of faithfully observing this practice!  The same canon notes that an individual diocesan bishop, or an individual Episcopal Conference, can require that parishes maintain other additional registries as well, such as a register recording all First Holy Communions at the parish.  (See “Are Catholics Supposed to Abstain from Meat Every Friday?” for more on what an Episcopal Conference is and does.)  This general requirement was already discussed in “Canon Law and Marriage Records.”

It’s worth noting that this particular canon is located in the section of the code pertaining to the obligations and duties of a parish priest.  This is relevant to us here, because the context of canon 535.1 makes it abundantly clear that what the parish priest is required to record is the celebration of these sacraments in his parish.  Right now this might seem like a fine point, but its significance should become clear in a moment.

In many cases this is a perfectly straightforward procedure.  If (let’s say) John and Sara are parishioners at St. Christina’s, and they bring their newborn son to be baptized at St. Christina’s by the pastor there (as per canon 530 n. 1), the baptism should naturally be recorded in the registry at St. Christina’s.  The same is obviously true if this baptism is administered by the parochial vicar of St. Christina’s, or by a permanent deacon assigned there (see “What Can (and Can’t) a Deacon Do?” for more on this).  Likewise, if the baptism is administered by a visiting cleric—let’s say Sara’s uncle is a retired priest, and he travels to St. Christina’s to celebrate his new nephew’s baptism—the baptism must be recorded in the baptismal registry of St. Christina’s.  That parish is, after all, where the baptism took place.

Now let’s add a twist to the last scenario: imagine that Sara’s uncle is the parish priest at St. Joseph’s, in a different diocese.  He comes to St. Christina’s (with the permission of St. Christina’s parish priest, of course!), and baptizes his nephew there, since that’s the family’s parish.  Where does the baptism get recorded?  The answer is unequivocal: it’s recorded at St. Christina’s, because the baptism was celebrated at St. Christina’s—period.  The fact that the celebrant happened to be the pastor of a different parish is irrelevant.  Among other details, the record in St. Christina’s registry should note the name of the priest who celebrated the baptism (see c. 877.1).

There are all sorts of additional variations on this theme.  To cite another example, imagine that our fictitious John and Sara are parishioners at St. Christina’s, and they fully intend to have their new baby baptized there; but when their son is born, serious medical problems arise and so he is baptized in the hospital by a nurse.  This basic sort of scenario was addressed in “Laypeople Can Always Baptize—But When Should They?”

Now let’s imagine that this hospital is located within the territory of St. Christina’s parish.  (See canon 518, and “Parish Registration,” for more on the territoriality of parishes.)  This baptism should be inscribed in the baptismal registry of St. Christina’s, because it took place in the parish.  The fact that the baptism was administered outside the actual church, and by a person other than the parish priest, does not alter this requirement!  Think about it: the hospital (which might not even be a Catholic hospital) doesn’t have a baptismal registry, so if this baptism isn’t registered at St. Christina’s, where will it be registered?  As per canon 878, whoever actually performed the baptism should notify the priest at St. Christina’s, so it can be noted in the baptismal register; and once again, as per canon 877.1, the record should note the circumstances of this baptism, including the location and the nurse who administered it.

But what if that hospital is located in the territory of Our Lady of Fatima parish?  By now the proper procedure should be evident: even though John and Sara are members of St. Christina’s parish, the baptism was celebrated within the boundaries of Our Lady of Fatima, and so the baptism should be recorded there—not at St. Christina’s.  Yes, by all means, the pastor of St. Christina’s should be told of what has happened, since John, Sara, and now their new baby too are all his parishioners, and he is responsible for their spiritual wellbeing!  But it’s the pastor of Our Lady of Fatima who should give John and Sara a copy of the baptismal certificate for their son.  In future, when the boy prepares to receive his First Holy Communion, his Confirmation, and possibly get married or enter the seminary to be ordained a priest, he will need to prove that he is a baptized Catholic; and even if he is still a member of St. Christina’s, his family knows that the record of his baptism is actually in the registry at Our Lady of Fatima.  By this point, it should be evident that the answer to Khalil’s question above is a definite no: you cannot have a baby baptized in one parish, and then record that baptism in the registry of a different parish.

In “When Can We Have Our Child Baptized at a Different Parish?” we looked at some other, exceptional situations when a family might belong to one parish, but for a legitimate reason their baby might be baptized at another parish (or at a non-parish church, such as a monastery).  The basic rule just cited will apply in these situations as well: a baptism is recorded in the parish where it was celebrated.  And if it wasn’t actually celebrated inside a parish church, the baptism is to be recorded in the registry of the parish within whose boundaries it was administered.  Now Rimsky too has the answer to his question.

When it comes to sacramental registries, the basic takeaway is this: when determining how to record a baptism, a marriage, or any other sacrament for which a parish registry exists, what matters is where the sacrament was celebrated—and thus the parish membership of the person(s) receiving the sacrament is immaterial.  As a result, it invariably happens that a parish registry contains records of sacraments administered to its own parishioners, but also to Catholics from other parishes.  There’s nothing odd about having to phone a parish far from home, which you know practically nothing about, to ask for your baptismal certificate!  So long as you know where the sacrament was celebrated, you should rest easy that you can obtain copies of the records which you may later need.

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