by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., S.T.D., LL.D., L.H.D.
Baptismal Record Of An Illegitimate Child
Question: Recently I baptized an illegitimate child, and entered in the register the names of the mother and of the persons who acted as sponsors. Shortly afterward the child was adopted. I have now received from the Catholic lawyer who arranged the adoption a baptismal certificate, all made out, with the same names of the adopting couple recorded as the true parents and two relatives as the godparents. The lawyer requested that I sign a certificate and enter the baptism in the register in accordance with these fictitious data. What can I do in such circumstances?
Answer: There must be kept in the church files a true account of the baptized person’s parentage, as far as this can be known, and this information must be available to the ecclesiastical authorities on occasion when it may be pertinent, especially if the individual later plans to marry, or to enter the religious life or the priesthood. This does not mean, however, that the full and correct data must necessarily be presented on the baptismal certificate when the reason for demanding the document is only to obtain assurance that the person received Catholic baptism– for example, on the occasion of the admittance of a child to a Catholic school or to First Holy Communion. Illegitimacy need not be revealed in such circumstances; indeed, some fictitious data may be presented. Such, at least, is the opinion of Msgr. E. Robert Arthur, of the Washington Archdiocese, in an excellent article on this difficult problem in The Jurist, of January, 1953. In certain circumstances, he says, “one would hardly object if the local Ordinary should authorize the issuance of certificates for the adopted exactly like those customarily used in this country, with names of the adoptive parent inserted as if they were the natural parents, and even with the others than the real sponsors given as godparents.” Msgr. Arthur would even permit both the true and the “quasi-record” to be inscribed in the register, but always in such a wise that the former is available in such instances as marriage, entrance into a seminary or a religious institute, etc. Such a procedure, however, should not be used unless it is approved by the local Ordinary.
Record Of Private Baptism
Question: If the child of non-Catholic parents is baptized privately by a nurse in the hospital because the little one is in danger of death, is there an obligation on the part of the nurse to inform anyone of the Baptism or to make a record of it, in the event that the child recovers?
Answer: In the case described a record of the Baptism should be kept either by the hospital chaplain or (preferably) by the pastor of the place where the child’s parents reside. The nurse should see that the information is given to either of these two. The record in question should be kept in a private book, not the regular baptismal register. If it is evident that the child’s parents would not object to the Baptism or may even have desired it, they can be informed. (Cf. McAllister, Emergency Baptism [Milwaukee, 1945], pp 17 f.)