Pope Francis’ warning: you cannot be baptized “in the name of mum and dad”

Enough with the liturgical chaos with baptisms and other celebrations. A new document called “Gestis verbisque” prepared by the Argentine cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by the Pope, underlines that the sacraments and their formulas do not allow changesmust be respected otherwise the changes will be considered illegal.

The request for rigor comes from the cardinals and bishops of the Vatican Dicastery of Doctrine itself, given the too many abuses reported.

The document specifies that the forms and elements established in the essence of the rite of the sacrament”They cannot be changed in the name of creativity because in those cases the sacrament itself is invalid and has never been celebrated.”

Enough, therefore, with very widespread formulas “Mom and Dad baptize you with so much joy”. Or weddings celebrated “at the limit of folklore”, or the Eucharist according to the sensitivity of the priest, the anointing of the sick offered to them “as if it were a magic potion”.

The pontifical document recalls that the sacraments are provided with the seven vital gestures which, starting from the Council of Trent, constitute «the encounter with Christ the Lord who gives his grace and the encounter with the words and ritual acts of the Church, nourishes and strengthens faith.”

Those “seven gestures” They cannot be modified because a fundamental anarchy is created which risks undermining the foundations of faith. “With closely connected events and words, God reveals and implements his own plan of salvation for every man and woman.”

«But it must be noted that the liturgical celebration, particularly that of the sacraments, does not always They are carried out in full fidelity to the rites prescribed by the Church”, explains Cardinal Fernandez.

The interventions of the Magisterium in sacramental matters “have always been motivated by the fundamental concerns of fidelity to the mystery celebrated”.

No changes

The pontifical document states that «serious modifications made to the matter or form of the Sacraments render the celebrations null and void». force the people involved to repeat Baptism or Confirmation to a significant number of faithful who feel troubled.”

The pontiff clarifies that no one has «the possibility of modifying the celebratory form of a Sacrament on their own initiative: this does not only constitute a simple liturgical abuse as a transgression of a positive norm, but a “vulnus” (damage) to ecclesial communion and to recognizability of the action of Christ, which in the most serious cases renders the Sacrament itself invalid, because the nature of ministerial action requires the faithful transmission of what has been received”.

“It is increasingly urgent to develop a celebratory art that leads to a discipline that must be respected in order to be authentic disciples. It’s not about following liturgical etiquette, It’s more of a discipline.”the Pope states in the text.

Presenting the document, the prefect Cardinal Fernandez said that “even some priests, who had been baptized with these formulas, (like “I baptize you in the name of the Creator” or “We baptize you in the name of father and mother”, they painfully discovered the invalidity of their ordination and of the sacraments celebrated up to that moment”.

The Argentine cardinal explained that “while in other areas of the Church’s pastoral action there is ample space for creativity, in the context of the celebrations of the sacraments this is rather transformed into a manipulative will”.

The prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith concluded by recalling that “we ministers are asked for the strength to overcome the temptation to feel like owners of the Church” and “the faithful have the right, in turn, to receive the sacraments as the Church provides.”