Is it possible to baptize a child and change godparents?

Baptism is one of the most important church sacraments, therefore it is of great importance in the life of every Christian. After going through this ritual, a person gets the opportunity to join the Holy Church, live a life pleasing to the Lord, and save his soul. As a rule, baptism occurs in infancy. Sometimes a mature person takes part in this sacred rite. In some cases, life circumstances develop in such a way that the question arises: is it possible to baptize a person, change godmother, father, or both at once? It is important to understand that it is almost impossible to carry out such a process, however, under certain circumstances, re-baptism can still take place.

Sacrament of Baptism

In Orthodoxy there are seven Church Sacraments, including Baptism. Sacraments are especially important sacred rites that occur with the invisible participation of the Lord himself. These also include, for example, Wedding, Confession, Eucharist (Communion). But in order to participate in them and lead a Christian life, a person must be a member of the Holy Church. He becomes such precisely in Baptism. That is why the question of whether it is possible to baptize a child and change godparents is so important.

Font for performing the Sacrament of Baptism

In what cases is rebaptism possible?

Godparents are people responsible for the spiritual upbringing of a child. Their role is to raise a well-behaved Christian. Unfortunately, this rarely happens, but most godparents often visit the baby, take an interest in his life and health, congratulate him on the holidays, and give him gifts.

Sometimes parents have the idea of baptizing their baby with other godparents. The reasons for this desire are very different:

But none of these reasons is considered a compelling argument for repeating the baptismal ceremony. Even if the godfather or mother changes their religion or commits suicide, this is not a reason for rebaptism.

Re-baptism is possible only in exceptional cases. These include:

In such cases, you need to contact the priest, explaining the situation and asking to conduct the ceremony according to all the rules.

Concealing the fact of baptism and repeating the sacrament is considered a great sin. Responsibility for the committed act lies with the mother and father, as well as with future godparents.

The meaning of the Sacrament

In the sacrament of Baptism, the spiritual birth of a person occurs. The Holy Spirit washes away sins from him and gives him the grace necessary for salvation (the power that transforms a person). The baptism of a newborn is also significant because it lays the foundation for the spiritual development of the child. Baptism is also called communion with Christ and birth into the Church.

We can highlight the most important and significant moments of the sacrament of Baptism. These include, for example, the threefold renunciation of the baptized person from Satan and service to sin. Also, a person must publicly declare his desire to join Christ three times. After this, consciously, with an understanding of the meaning, read the Creed. It sets out the main dogmas of the Orthodox Church. By reciting the Creed, the person being baptized publicly declares faith in these dogmas. In this way he confirms his commitment to Orthodoxy.

If a child is baptized, then the godparents do it all for him. Next, the clergyman sanctifies the water into which the person being baptized is plunged three times. The priest reads special prayers at this time. The baptized person is also anointed with holy oil and part of his hair is cut off. Confirmation means putting on a person the seal of the Holy Spirit, which sanctifies and transforms a person. This is a separate sacrament that complements Baptism. Cutting one's hair symbolizes a person's dedication to Christ and acceptance of His will.

It is very important that a person is baptized consciously and with sincere faith. So as not to perceive the sacrament as some kind of traditional rite or magical ritual. Therefore, if necessary, on the eve of the sacrament, public conversations are held with those wishing to be baptized or with future godparents. Their goal is to initiate a person into the foundations of Orthodoxy and talk about the meaning of Baptism.

How does the rite of rebaptism take place?

Reception of the sacrament of Baptism means the birth of a person for spiritual life, cleansing from original sin. Just as a person cannot be born twice physically, so spiritual birth is possible only once. Even the “Creed” prayer, read during the ceremony, contains words about a single baptism for the remission of sins. Therefore, it is impossible to conduct a rebaptism ceremony to change recipients.

In those rare cases when secondary baptism is allowed, the ceremony is performed in the same way as for the unbaptized.

When performing the sacrament over a person who does not know whether he has been baptized or not, a special wording is used when reading the prayer: “If he is not baptized, the servant of God is baptized...”.

God-parents

Godparents are needed if the sacrament is performed on a small child. He cannot yet understand the meaning of Baptism and independently declare his faith in Christ. Therefore, he is baptized according to the faith of his parents, as well as godfathers and mothers. They vouch before God for their godson and take responsibility for his spiritual upbringing. For this reason, godparents are considered the spiritual parents of a new member of the Church. Godparents are also called godparents: after the child is immersed in water, they are the ones who receive him from the hands of the priest.

What are the responsibilities of godparents? In the first centuries of Christianity, everyone who wanted to be baptized had to find an already baptized “guarantor” who could confirm to the Church the sincerity of his intentions. “Guarantors” were prototypes of godparents. They brought those wishing to be baptized to the priest and participated in the Sacrament. Modern godparents also “bring” the godson to the Church and help him at the beginning of his path to God. They must pray for the godson, accustom him to prayer and church sacraments. With their lives they showed an example of a true Christian. Godparents must help the godson become a worthy member of the Church and do everything so that in the future he himself can meet God halfway.

Let us quote the words of St. John Chrysostom about the duty of successors:

“Those who have accepted the guarantee of virtue must show great care, convincing, advising, correcting, showing fatherly love.”

Priest Georgy Kochetkov in “The Mysterious Introduction to Orthodox Catechism” notes that godparents certainly need

“to find an opportunity to remind your godson of his Christian promise not only to believe in God and Christ the Savior with his heart “in truth,” but also with his lips to confess (acknowledge) his faith “for salvation” (...), and to his parents, while his godson is still small, - about their Christian moral obligation to raise him in the faith and teach him faith and life in Christ.”

Therefore, godparents must be churchgoers who are trying to lead a pious life and are aware of the responsibility placed on them.

Is it possible to change godfather

The act of baptism, once correctly performed, is no longer repeated, and, naturally, there is no possibility of taking other godparents, since there is no second baptism.

Priest Oleg Gavrilov

https://ruvera.ru/vopros/pomenuat_krestnogo

The priests emphasize that even if the godfather does not lead a righteous life, does not live up to the parents’ expectations and does not teach his godson anything good, this will not have a negative impact on the child. The sins of godparents are not transferred to their “church children.” The godfather’s task is not to be an infallible guardian angel or a sacred talisman, but to teach the godson church truths and engage in his spiritual development. Even if he copes with this task very poorly, the church does not consider this a sufficient reason for a change.

Often a godfather is chosen from close friends in the hope that he will be partial to the child and his life path

However, there is one small, weak, but still loophole - you can find a reason why baptism will be considered invalid. Some clergy are of the opinion that baptism in infancy can be considered incorrect. The Bible says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19, 20). This means that people who are baptized must already consciously accept Christianity. The baby did not have such an opportunity, which means that baptism took place without his consent.

Nevertheless, the issue of re-baptism remains controversial in the Orthodox Church. Some priests will agree that baptizing a small child is against the rules, while others will say that such baptism is also considered legal and the ritual cannot be repeated.

In this case, the truly unbaptized person is rightly baptized one more time, but truly, rejecting the untrue baptism as a mistake that did not regenerate the person from above. But it is incorrect to say that he is being baptized a second or third time. He was truly baptized only once.

Father Oleg

https://omolenko.com/mail/otvet-o-kreschenii.htm

By the way, baptism in the Catholic Church is recognized by Orthodox priests. And Catholic clergy adhere to the same opinion regarding the change of godfather as in Orthodoxy - this spiritual mentor is determined once and for life. None of his sins (including suicide) are a reason to change his godfather.

If the godfather has ceased to fulfill his duties imposed on him by Orthodox baptism, then he should not be abandoned. A child is not responsible for sinful actions or unrighteous views held by his church parent.

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Is it possible to be baptized twice?

Many priests note with regret that people often have a superstitious view of the sacrament of Baptism. For example, some people ask “is it possible to be baptized a second time?” Such people consider the sacrament as a magical means of getting rid of illnesses and various everyday problems. There are also those who want to be baptized again in order to wash away the sins accumulated after the first Baptism.

So is it possible to baptize a child and change godparents? Such phenomena are a consequence of the spiritual illiteracy of “near-church” people. Re-baptism is impossible, since it contradicts church canons. Only once and for the rest of our lives are we sanctified by the Holy Spirit and joined to the Holy Church. Therefore, even if a baptized person has departed from the faith for some time, he does not need to be baptized again to repent. To be cleansed from sins and united with Christ, baptized people should resort to the sacraments of Confession and Communion. Therefore, Confession is also called the second Baptism.

Archpriest Dionisy Svechnikov points out that

baptism is a spiritual birth, and it, like physical birth, can only be one... Baptism does not at all solve everyday and financial problems and is not a “tool” for removing damage.”

Priest Alexander Ermolin also addresses those who want to be baptized a second time for the sake of their everyday well-being:

“We believe in Baptism as a call to follow Christ in a difficult but true way. And the “second baptism” is an attempt to be baptized for the sake of solving earthly problems.”

Church opinion

Most clergy are categorical on the issue of rebaptism and consider repeating the ceremony impossible. A person can undergo the sacrament only once, so it is not possible to abandon a godmother or father and take on other parents.

If spiritual parents refuse to fulfill their duties and lead a sinful life, then the church advises to pray for them. Children are not responsible for the sins of their godparents; the spiritual life of their godparents does not affect the life and condition of their godchildren. First of all, parents themselves should raise a child in Christian traditions.

Church canons allow you to find another mentor who has taken upon himself the responsibility for the spiritual education of the child. If among your friends there is a churchgoer, you can ask him to introduce the child to church life. To do this, you need to come to the temple with your new mentor, asking for the priest’s blessing.

To avoid problems with the child’s second parents, you should take a responsible approach to choosing adoptive parents. You need to choose believers, spiritually literate, responsible people. Then the child will always have spiritual support, and questions about the baby’s rebaptism will not arise.

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Why do you want to baptize your baby?

There are different reasons why parents want to baptize their child. This happens if people took part in the baptism of a child, who later could not live up to the hopes placed on them:

Sometimes misunderstandings arise between biological and godparents, quarrels break out, a huge distance appears, or other undesirable situations occur, so further communication becomes problematic. Many people believe that the lack of good relationships poses a danger to the child and can provoke various misfortunes - failures, illnesses, premature death.

Another reason why parents want to baptize their child a second time is the name given to him at baptism (it is known that it often differs from the worldly name). There is an opinion that evil people who find out what the baby was named at baptism can harm him with the help of dark forces. If the name of the baptized person becomes known to others, some families seek to redo the ceremony and change it.

Is it possible to baptize a child and change godparents?

What exceptions to the rules are there?

Every Orthodox Christian knows that baptism is a great religious sacrament that occurs only once during the life of a believer. Despite the fact that repeating the ritual is not stipulated by the Church, sometimes situations still arise that can be considered as exceptions to the rules.

The second baptism of a child can be carried out in the following cases:

Sometimes an adult has reasonable doubts that he underwent baptism as an infant. This becomes a serious obstacle to the acquisition of true faith and the desire to live according to Christian commandments. In such situations, the Church allows for the possibility of conducting a new ritual with other godparents.

If you have a sincere desire to be re-baptized, you should contact a priest and tell him in detail about all the circumstances of making such a serious decision.

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