|
The Orthodox Pages
|
||||
Back
   |
|
|||
|
|
Good morning father. I have a question. If a child is baptized in to the Greek Orthodox Church as a baby and then 5-7 year later, the child's parents have the child baptized in the Catholic Church, with different godparents, can that child still have communion in the Greek Church? Are the child's original godparents no longer godparents? Is the child considered Orthodox or Catholic? The parents wanted to take the child to a Catholic school and then baptized the child with new godparents, without the original godparents knowledge. This is not the fault of the child. The decision was made by the parents. Thank you
Answer to Question 252
I have answered many questions on baptism but I think this is the hardest to explain. The main problem is that the Catholic Church recognizes the Orthodox baptism so why did they go ahead with a second baptism? We both believe in only one baptism so in effect they have sinned against their own beliefs by re-baptising. The rules for an adult is that if he has left the church and joined another then he is an apostate and although his baptism is still valid he needs to be reconfirmed into the Orthodox Church before he is allowed to have Holy Communion. Babies cannot be considered apostates because what faith they follow is decided for them by their parents. They cannot belong to both churches so the parents have to decide what faith they want the children to grow up in. If they decide that the child belongs to the Orthodox Church his/her original baptism is still valid and nothing more need be done, but if they decide that the child is Catholic then they shouldn’t bring the child for Holy Communion in the Orthodox Church. It is sad that people don’t understand the differences between the two faiths and are ready to trade their true faith for another just so that their child can be accepted into a Catholic school.
Another member My children attend catholic schools and didn't need to change faith. The schools accept Greek Orthodox children. At the church service they don't have communion, they only have it in our church.
|
|
||
