One of the greatest developments in Catholicism following Vatican II was a reappreciation of the centrality of baptism. This sacrament has a great importance and dignity and the riches of the liturgical renewal of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults are gradually being opened up for all Christians.
One particular aspect of the Christian tradition that is being rediscovered is the importance of Baptism by immersion. Number 1239 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water.”
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to read this story from San Francisco, where Archbishop Cordileone explains about how At San Francisco cathedral, adult baptisms get an old school update
Long may such attention to the signs of the various liturgical celebrations continue!
Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue
Neil Xavier O’Donoghue is originally from Cork, Ireland. He is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who has ministered in parishes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has spent many years as an academic mentor to seminarians. Neil currently serves as Programme Director for Liturgical Programmes at the Pontifical University and as Acting Director of the National Centre for Liturgy. Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teología Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren’s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. His articles have appeared in The Irish Theological Quarterly, New Blackfriars, The Furrow and Antiphon. He writes a monthly article on some aspect of the theology of Pope Francis in the Messenger of St. Anthony and blogs regularly at PrayTell.
