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From: finnerty@sal-sun45.usc.edu (Brian Finnerty)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Validity of Baptism (Was Re: In Communion with Rome?)
Message-ID: <Oct.29.00.44.26.1990.11350@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 29 Oct 90 05:44:29 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

The Catholic Church teaches that non-Catholics can validly baptize.

A baptism can be validly performed by anyone, even a Protestant or 
even a non-Christian. To be valid, the person doing the baptism must
have the general intention of accomplishing what the Catholic Church 
means by baptism. Water must be applied to the head of the recipient 
and the person doing the baptism must invoke the Trinitarian formula of
"I baptize you **in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Spirit.**" 

In general, Protestant baptisms are considered valid if they invoke
the Trinitarian formula and the use of water (by pouring, immersion, 
or if necessary sprinkling).

This is consistent with the re-baptism in Acts. The Holy Spirit was 
not included in the original baptism (of John), so the baptism was 
invalid.

This is also consistent with the canons of the Council of Nicea which
did not require the re-baptism of heretics or schismatics, unless
the form of the baptisms had violated the Trinitarian forumla.

Valid ordinations and valid masses can be performed by bishops and
priests not in communion with Rome. Any validly ordained 
bishop can validly ordain another bishop, and any validly ordained 
priest or bishop can celebrate mass. The Orthodox Churches (Greek
and Russian) have valid masses and ordinations. However, the Protestant
churches do not have validly ordained bishops, because the chain of 
valid ordinations was broken at the time of the reformation. The chain 
of valid ordinations was broken because the Protestants had a different
concept of what ordination means, and what powers it confers.
(For example, Catholics believe that bishops and priests have the power 
to forgive sins  and to celebrate the sacrifice of the mass.) 
Protestant ordinations were performed without the intention of 
communicating the powers that Catholics believe are intrinsic to 
priestly ordination, so these ordinations were not valid.

Brian Finnerty