Letters

Baptism

Mark Moriarty

Contents - Sep 2006 - Buy a copy now Editorial: 2006 Fighting Fund launched - Peter Westmore Conscience: AD2000 interviews Cardinal Pell - Cardinal George Pell USA: Liberal Christianity goes into meltdown - Charlotte Allen News: The Church Around the World Chavagnes: Catholic education in a secular culture - Alexander Morrison History: The Counter Reformation and the Jesuits - John Morrissey Family in Society: Asian and Australian families face similar challenges - Leslie Sammut Clergy: ACCC Annual Conference focuses on theology of Benedict XVI - AD2000 Report Letters: Thomas Groome (letter) - C. Hungerford-Morgan Letters: Baptism - Mark Moriarty Letters: Correction to last month's reflection on Baptism - John Young Letters: Communism - Frank Bellet Letters: African pen-friend - Fr Vincent Kajoba Letters: Safe Sex? - Arnold Jago Letters: Judicial activism - Henk Verheven Letters: Stolen faith - Marie Adamo Letters: Helping the Carmelites - Beth Burns Letters: Thank-you note - A. van Tilburg Poetry: The Touch of the Master's Hand - Myra Welch Books: William Bernard Ullathorne: A Different Kind of Monk, by Judith Champ - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Advancing the Culture of Death, by Peter Hung Manh Tran - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: Why Must I Suffer? by Fr F.J. Remler CM - Jacinta Cummins (reviewer) Books: Stimulating reading from Freedom Publishing Reflection: Cardinal Arinze on the need for Eucharistic reverence - Cardinal Francis Arinze

I was offended by John Young's callous article, "The Importance of early baptism." He shows a complete disregard for loving practising Catholic parents who may have lost a baby at birth and through no fault of their own were unable to have it baptised.

I believe that God, who has entrusted this child to them through love, would have known that their desire would have been baptism for their child, therefore I believe that child would enter heaven.

John Young also ignores the recent Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1261, which deals directly with children who have died without Baptism. This paragraph is worth quoting:

"As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: 'Let the children come to me do not hinder them,' allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism."

For John Young only to quote from the much harsher Council of Trent Catechism is an insult to the love and faith of all Catholic parents who desire Baptism for their children.

MARK MORIARTY
Lavington, NSW

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 19 No 8 (September 2006), p. 14