Infant baptism in the Roman Catholic Church involves the baby being in clothes and the priest just making a sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead (like infant baptism in the orthodox church) but the baby is not fully immersed into the water, just the sign of the cross is made on the baby’s forehead. This is probably meant to emphasise the fact that the power of the cross will drive away the evil from the baby’s body.
No hair is cut from the baby in baptism in the Roman Catholic Church, but in the Orthodox Church, hair is cut and it is shaped into the form of a cross and it is worn by the orthodox Christians for the rest of their life.
As you have seen, there are quite a few differences; you will now see the similarities between infant baptisms in both of the different churches.
As the baby is being baptised, the priest days “I baptise you in the name of the father, and the son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen”. Chrism is used in both baptisms. The only difference in that is that in the Orthodox Church, the baby’s whole body is covered with oil of chrism, which in the Roman Catholic Church; only a cross is made on the forehead of the baby. The sign of the cross is also very important in both baptisms. The cross is the most important symbol in the Christian faith mainly because Christ was crucified on the cross. The cross initiates the child into Christ’s community.
The child wears a white garment in both baptisms. Christ also always wore white and this symbolises the fact that the baby is clothed with Christ. It is also provided by the mother, and Christ wore this when he arose from the dead, this can correlate to what I am saying here because that baby is arising from the death of his/her original sins.
Water is also used in both baptisms. Water is a powerful symbol because it represents both life and death. It represents death to sin and life for a new life in the guidance of Christ.
B) Believers baptism takes place when the candidate is ready to be baptised himself. This is quite right in a way because the candidate should get a choice whether he wants to be baptised or whether he feels spiritually ready for the need to be baptised.
There can be no classes for the baby in baptism in the Roman Catholic Church because the baby would not understand anything. The classes in believers baptism in the Baptist Church is a very good idea because the candidate’s knowledge about baptism can be broadened and the candidate can also learn about the history of baptism.
There can be no testimony in the Roman Catholic Church as the baby cannot speak yet. A testimony (when the candidate explains to the congregation why he wants to be baptised) is given in the Baptist Church, where the candidate explains when he felt that the lord called him to be baptised.
Questions are not asked in both churches. The only thing with that, is that in the Baptist Church, the candidate answers the questions (e.g. “Do you accept Christ as your saviour?”), and the believer answers in the form of “I do”. There are no questions to be answered in the Roman Catholic Church. In infant baptism in the Orthodox Church, the questions are asked to the baby but the answer is given on behalf of the baby by a sponsor.
The candidate in the Baptist church is fully immersed. This is because the immersion is the death of sin and the as he come out it is a new life in Christ. The baby in the Roman Catholic Church is not fully immersed, but only a sign of the cross is made on his forehead with the water.
Basically, infant baptism in the Roman Catholic Church takes place for initiation to occur at a young age. This is when the baby is welcomed into the community and it is a celebration for the friends and family of the baby, for the baby, and his/her family. The baptism also takes place to rid us of original sin (sin that every baby is born with. The reason Mary is called the Immaculate Conception is because her birth was immaculate, and therefore Jesus was born with no original sin).
Believers’ baptism takes place as the candidate has a personal understanding of the faith and can give a person testimony to show that he/she is ready. The candidate has a free choice and the celebration is with the candidate, not for the baby.
