Why does the Catholic Church believe in infant baptism?

Answer 1

Infant baptism is the Christian religious practice of baptizing infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The Roman Catholic Church considers baptism, even for an infant, so important that "parents are obliged to see that their infants are baptised within the first few weeks" and, "if the infant is in danger of death, it is to be baptised without any delay." It declares: "The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole 'households' received baptism, infants may also have been baptized." It notes that, "when the first direct evidence of infant Baptism appears in the second century, it is never presented as an innovation", that second-century Irenaeus treated baptism of infants as a matter of course, and that, "at a Synod of African Bishops, St. Cyprian stated that 'God's mercy and grace should not be refused to anyone born', and the Synod, recalling that 'all human beings' are 'equal', whatever be 'their size or age', declared it lawful to baptize children 'by the second or third day after their birth'." Infant baptism is seen as showing very clearly that salvation is an unmerited favour from God, not the fruit of human effort. "Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called... The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth." The Church has no official teaching regarding the fate of infants who die without Baptism, and theologians of the Church hold various views (for instance, some have asserted that they go to Limbo, which has never been official Catholic doctrine). "The Church entrusts these infants to the mercy of God."

Answer 2

Our Lord said, "Unless one is born again of the water and the Spirit, he will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Baptism washes away the stain of Original Sin and makes us eligible to enter Heaven. If the baby should die before baptism can take place, it could be prevented from entering Heaven. Currently there is discussion and some controversy within the Church on this very topic. What happens to all those babies who die before baptism? In the 'old' Church it was believed that they went to Limbo, a place that was neither Heaven nor Hell. The Church is rethinking the topic but it takes many years, sometimes centuries, to change thinking in the Church.

Answer 3

For Catholics, baptism is normally done by full immersion, but in the case of infants, it is considered safer to baptise by pouring water over their head or perhaps just partially immersing them. Or both.

The baptism is always done "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."