Catholic Church Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! PreviewAdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text====Baptism==== [[File:Baptême Cathédrale de Troyes 290308.jpg|left|thumb|Baptism of [[Augustine of Hippo]] as represented in a sculptural group in [[Troyes Cathedral]] (1549), France]] As viewed by the Catholic Church, Baptism is the first of three sacraments of initiation as a Christian.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1275}}</ref> It washes away all sins, both [[original sin]] and personal actual sins.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1263}}</ref> It makes a person a member of the church.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1267}}</ref> As a gratuitous gift of God that requires no merit on the part of the person who is baptized, it is [[infant baptism|conferred even on children]],<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1282}}</ref> who, though they have no personal sins, need it on account of original sin.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1250}}</ref> If a new-born child is in a danger of death, anyone—be it a doctor, a nurse, or a parent—may baptize the child.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lazowski|first=Philip|year=2004|title=Understanding Your Neighbor's Faith: What Christians and Jews Should Know About Each Other|publisher=KTAV Publishing House|url={{googlebooks|HIhIPIYLQ6QC|page=157|plainurl=y}}|isbn=978-0-88125-811-0|page=157}}</ref> Baptism marks a person permanently and cannot be repeated.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1272}}</ref> The Catholic Church recognizes as valid baptisms conferred even by people who are not Catholics or Christians, provided that they intend to baptize ("to do what the Church does when she baptizes") and that they use the [[Trinitarian formula#Use in baptism|Trinitarian baptismal formula]].<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1256}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page