ANSWERS: 7
  • When my kids were baptised, because I was not catholic, I was required to take some religious instruction/classes through the church, prior to the kids being baptised. I would think that, if that was the normal process/policy, they wouldn't baptise the baby without the Mother's complying.
  • I personally don't see anything wrong with getting the baby baptised, it can't hurt the baby, but this is something that both parents need to discuss and come to a conclusion with together. So, I would say it is wrong to get the baby baptised behind the mothers back. You can always bring the child up to make up their own mind and get baptised later on. Many people have done that.
  • Dad can always baptise the children himself, if he feels that it is absolutely necessary to do so. But this is a very good reason why people should get to know their partners before cohabitation. Religious differences (any big differences in fact eg finances, interests,discipline etc) make for a lot of unhappiness, particulary when children come along.
  • Since a baptism is a commitment, by parents who actively practice Catholicism, to raise the child according to the Catholic faith, I'd think you'd want the mother's agreement to raise the child Catholic.
  • If both parents share custody of the child, both parents have a stake in the religious upbringing. Religious conditions are often included in divorce decrees and parents have lost custody over violating these agreements. Many churches won't baptize a child without the consent of both parents. If you're looking for what is "right," neither of you should unilaterally baptize the child without the consent of the other - and nothing prevents you from introducing the child to multiple religious traditions from which he will choose when older. In terms of whether a civil case could be filed against you in court, that's less clear. Generally the courts like to stay out of these type of disputes.
  • The answer depends on who has legal custody.
  • Baptism doesn't have any legal ramifications, in the United States anyway, so what's the problem?

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