Infant Baptism

It is sometimes objected that baptism presupposes faith, and that a child too small to believe should not receive it. Yet the Church has baptised little children from the beginning, because baptism is first a gift of God, not a work of man.

Grace is not earned

Baptism does not reward the faith of the one who receives it: it freely gives grace, the very life of God. To wait until the child is able to believe would make salvation a human achievement, when it is pure gift. The infant, who can offer nothing, shows this gratuity better than anyone: he receives everything without having merited it. Christ himself opens his Kingdom to children: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like them.” Matthew 19:14

The promise is for the children

From the Church's first day, the announcement of salvation includes children. At Pentecost, Peter calls to baptism and declares: “For the promise is for you and for your children.” Acts 2:39 The Apostles indeed baptised whole households, where children and servants were found, like that of Lydia or that of the jailer of Philippi.

As circumcision once did

In the Old Covenant, the child entered the people of God through circumcision, received on the eighth day, long before any personal act of faith. Baptism fulfils this sign: it unites to Christ as circumcision united to the covenant. “In him you were circumcised… buried with him in baptism.” Colossians 2:11-12 The Christian child thus receives what the child of Israel already received.

Baptised in the faith of the Church

There remains the objection: the child cannot believe. But he is baptised in the faith of the Church, that of his parents, his godparents, and the community that welcomes him and commits to helping him grow. Faith is received and handed on before it becomes a personal response. The child is carried by it until the day he makes it his own, as he is carried, from birth, by the love of his own. Thus the baptism of little children opens faith and calls it forth: the gift of God always precedes the response of man.