Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 1/17/2009

Question
Thanks for anwsering my question about the Icon, it was a great help. My next question is qabout the validity of a friend's baptism. He is now looking to enter the Catholic church, before, he was a Non denominational with some rather bizzare beliefs. He used to reject the resurection of the dead, he believed That the  Trinity was just three guys who worked together,(at one point he believed that the holy ghost was a woman.)and some other odd things. During this time he would Baptise himself on numerous occasions using the Trinitarian formula. His Mother would perform these Baptisms on him herself, (she held the same Trinitarian views as he did and still does.) Once a friend of his who was Catholic took part in these rites and baptised him, but it was not the same thing as a Catholic baptism. He explained to his friend, (Who has down syndrome), that it was only and act of penence thar he was performing, he was not making him Catholic. And before hand, he performed the rite on him. My personal opinion is that his baptisms are all invalid because of his Trinitarian heresy,(the Mormon baptisms are rejected for the same reason.) and due to lack of intent, his baptism by a Catholic friend is also invalid. I am asking you as a Priest, do you think that my friend is baptised or not? If you had to say yes or no, what would you say?

Answer
Hi, Martin:
Thanks for the question.
I would agree with you that these "baptisms" are invalid.  I like your analogy with Mormonism and their odd Trinitarian ideas; but I think that your friend's baptisms are clearly not valid overwhelmingly because of "lack of intent."  It sounds more like your friend has an idea about Baptism that would correspond more to something like the practice of sprinkling holy water, a sacramental, but not THE SACRAMENT of Baptism.
If I had to say yes or no, I would say NO.  Your friend is not truly baptized in accord with the Sacrament of Baptism instituted by Jesus Christ and ministered by the Church or by one who "intends to do what the Church does by baptizing."

Fr. Timothy Johnson

P.S. It seems as though you must have done quite a bit of research about Mormonism.  I don't know if it is strictly their "Trinitarian" heresy itself that is the problem, but their understanding of the fundamental nature of God.  They say God the Father has a body of flesh and bone, and that Jesus Christ is his literal son, begotten in the flesh by sexual copulation between God the Father and Mary.  A Trinitarian heresey that had some error concerning the nature of the relationship bewteen and among the Persons of the Holy Trinity (e.g. the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father ONLY, and NOT the Son; as opposed to proceeding from the Father and the Son, or through the Son), or the nature of the hypostatic union of the Word with human flesh might not necessarily invalidate a Baptism (e.g. Nestorians or Monophysites).

Fr. Timothy Johnson