Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 6/29/2007

Question
Dear Fr. Johnson:

I have a couple of interconnected questions about the validity of various sacraments administered by clerics of other denominations:  

(1) It is my understanding that a Catholic can validly receive the Eucharist from an Orthodox but not an Anglican priest.  Is that correct, and if so, why?  Didn't Orthodoxy split from Rome hundreds of years before the Church of England did?  

(2)  Can someone be validly baptized by a cleric of another denomination? Does it depend on the denomination?  If so, what are the differences and why?

Thanks.

Answer
Dear Sam:

Thanks for the questions.
(1) Your understanding that a Catholic (meaning, of course, Christians of the Catholic Tradition of the Latin Roman Church) would be receiving a valid Sacrament of Holy Communion from an Eastern or Oriental Orthodox Priest, because the Sacraments of the Orthodox are valid.  However, as a matter of Church disciplinary practice I understand that an Orthodox Priest will not give Holy Communion to Roman Catholics, anyway.  On the otherhand, Roman Catholic disciplinary practice does allow Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians to receive Holy Communion from Roman Catholic Priests, whether Eastern or Latin Priests.
Roman Catholics (both Eastern & Latin) do not receive "communion" administered by Anglican or Episcopalian priests, because the Sacrament itself is seen to be invalid, though in rare cases, an Anglican Priest might possess valid orders.  Nevertheless, even if this or that particular Anglican Priest is validly ordained, the disciplinary law of the Roman Catholic Church does not allow Latin or Eastern Catholics to receive Sacraments from those ecclesial communities (Protestants) who broke away from the Catholic Church at the time of the Protestant Revolt in the 1500s.  The Eastern Orthodox maintain from time immemorial a Proper and Local (albeit schismatic) Apostolic Authority through their validly ordained Bishops who intend to hold a jurisdiction outside of full Ecclesial Communion with the Successor of St. Peter, the Pope.
In the case of Protestants, they are called back to Full Communion with the Latin Roman Catholic Church from which they broke so many centuries ago.
(2) Valid Baptism does not depend on "denomination", though it derives its efficacy ultimately from the Ministry of Jesus Christ through the Holy Catholic Church He founded.  The Catholic Church is not a "denomination", as a "denomination" is a term that means "re-naming" of protestant communities that broke Full Communion with the Church that Jesus Christ established and built on the Rock, St. Peter, and his successors, the Popes.
The validity hinges on the existence of at least these three listed "essential" properties:
1. The Valid, Trinitarian Form: I baptize you (or, be baptized, as is said in the Eastern Churches) in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Valid Matter: Water, and in the common liturgical celebration, Holy or Blessed Water, that must flow over the head, at least, of the one baptized.  It may be done by immersion (even submersion), or pouring of the water.
3. The one baptizing must have the INTENTION of doing what the Church intends by the commision of Christ to baptize.  Within this intention (as long as not BLOCKED), are the ends of washing away original sin, making the soul a participator in the Divine Nature by adoption as son or daughter of the Church, the Body of Christ: making one a Member of Christ and His Holy Church.
In classical Roman Catholic Theology ANYBODY can baptize in the case of necessity, as long as they intend to do what the Church intends in Her Ministry by Baptism, even if not fully understood, as long as they place no obstacles; though the ordinary Minister of Baptism is one constituted by the Sacrament of Holy Orders as Deacon, Priest, or Bishop.
My understanding among the Eastern Orthodox is that ONLY another baptized Christian (maybe even ONLY Orthodox) may validly baptize another, taking into account that all the essential elements of Form, Matter, and Intention are in place.
In the case of certain "denominational" baptisms, such as the Mormons, or those who baptize with the formula "in the name of Jesus" (not the Trinitarian Formula), these are considered invalid.  The Mormons do not believe in the God Who is infinite, spirit, and eternal (if you look closely at their theology, they cannot be said to even believe in the same God of the Jews & Christians); and in the case of those who baptize "in the name of Jesus" - well, the Form is not valid.  Jesus commanded his Apostles in Matthew 28: "Go into all nations, etc. and baptize them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Fr. Timothy Johnson