Baptizing elementary age child in the Catholic Church

[Anonymous]

We would like to become active in a church after many years away. DH was raised Catholic and I was raised Protestant, but we would like to join a Catholic church and have our 8 year old baptized (he has not been baptized anywhere). What is the process for this and can it be done even though I am not Catholic? DH is baptized and confirmed. Does our son need to take classes prior to baptism? Can we join a Parish as a family even though I am not Catholic? Thank you for your guidance, this is new to me.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a specific answer to your question but I’d hope/think that you would have a receptive parish. My 16 year old son has expressed interest in learning more about Catholicism since he’s transferring to a Catholic HS next year - was baptized but has done nothing since. We went to mass last week and the priest was thrilled to meet us.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Since your husband is the one who is catholic he is going to need to take the lead in this. It will depend parish by parish how you need to proceed. Choose a parish, then have your husband reach out to the priest.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can join a parish.

Usually, you have to be under 7 to do the infant baptism. Over that age, you go through RCIA which is much more involved and takes about a year. Make an appointment with a priest to discuss.

[Anonymous]

Yes this sounds like RCIA or maybe the 8 year old can be fast tracked with baptism to join the next communion class for next year and be with similar aged kids.

[Anonymous]

I think they only baptize babies and then wait until the child is older. Yours may be old enough. Contact a priest.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know someone who did this recently. The answer in that case was that the 8 year old did a kid-focused version of the RCIA (adult conversion) program. It takes about a year or more but you will do baptism, first communion, and confirmation in one. Usually the program concludes on Easter, so this year’s classes will be concluding very soon. Your husband should reach out to parishes to get the process started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know someone who did this recently. The answer in that case was that the 8 year old did a kid-focused version of the RCIA (adult conversion) program. It takes about a year or more but you will do baptism, first communion, and confirmation in one. Usually the program concludes on Easter, so this year’s classes will be concluding very soon. Your husband should reach out to parishes to get the process started.

OP hasn't said exactly where they are, but, they really need to get their husband to ask the priest at whatever parish they are going to join. The is going to be diocese dependent as well as priest dependent. FWIW I've never heard of an ADW parish confirming an 8 year old.

[Anonymous]

OP, you can definitely just start attending church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know someone who did this recently. The answer in that case was that the 8 year old did a kid-focused version of the RCIA (adult conversion) program. It takes about a year or more but you will do baptism, first communion, and confirmation in one. Usually the program concludes on Easter, so this year’s classes will be concluding very soon. Your husband should reach out to parishes to get the process started.

A child who is old enough for communion, but too young for confirmation would do the baptism, reconciliation, and first communion parts of RCIA, and then wait and do confirmation when they reach the appropriate age along with other kids who are preparing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know someone who did this recently. The answer in that case was that the 8 year old did a kid-focused version of the RCIA (adult conversion) program. It takes about a year or more but you will do baptism, first communion, and confirmation in one. Usually the program concludes on Easter, so this year’s classes will be concluding very soon. Your husband should reach out to parishes to get the process started.

OP hasn't said exactly where they are, but, they really need to get their husband to ask the priest at whatever parish they are going to join. The is going to be diocese dependent as well as priest dependent. FWIW I've never heard of an ADW parish confirming an 8 year old.

There is usually someone in the parish office in charge of the sacraments, you don't have to go straight to the priest for an answer. Just call the office to ask.

[Anonymous]

I would church shop a little. Start with your geographic parish and if you like it, great. Go talk to someone in the parish office. When you call they'll let you know if it's better to meet with a priest or a person in charge of sacraments, but I bet it's the priest. The sacraments/religious ed person is more for logistics. If you're not feeling your parish, go to a few around you on Sundays until you get a sense for them. I'd make sure you find the parish you want first, then reach out.

[Anonymous]

Many church websites or bulletins have information on who to contact for sacramental preparation. My parish has a program called TIPS for this kind of thing. It happens quite regularly, but your husband should register as a parishioner and make the inquiries.

[Anonymous]

Find a church you like or one nearby, start attending, and then ask about their Youth RCIA program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you can join a parish.

Usually, you have to be under 7 to do the infant baptism. Over that age, you go through RCIA which is much more involved and takes about a year. Make an appointment with a priest to discuss.

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