{"id":31722,"date":"2015-11-02T10:46:52","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T16:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=31722"},"modified":"2015-11-02T11:52:15","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T17:52:15","slug":"how-does-pope-francis-baptize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/02\/how-does-pope-francis-baptize\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Pope Francis Baptize?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0America\u00a0<\/em>reports<\/a>, Pope Francis on Saturday baptized the son of Sergio Sanchez, the leader of the \u201cwaste-pickers\u201d cooperative in Buenos Aires who was present at his inauguration as Bishop of Rome. The story is cast as an instance of the Pope\u2019s warm relationship with this family, but it contains an account of the baptism, which will interest Pray Tell readers as well.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the account is quite puzzling for anyone familiar with the rites. The reporter seems to have gotten some facts mixed up. Here\u2019s what the report says:<\/p>\n

Following the baptismal book, Francis had earlier anointed the child on the forehead and on the chest with the oil of chrism that he had blessed on Holy Thursday, but then he added to that tradition by anointing the child\u2019s hands too. He explained this last anointing: \u201cI like to do this because a person not only shows his dignity with his forehead when he looks at you, the person also expresses that dignity with his hands through his work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s a fact check.<\/p>\n

(1) First of all, the anointing on the breast is with the oil of catechumens, not with chrism.<\/p>\n

(2) Second, the child is not anointed on the forehead in the rite of Baptism \u2014 at all. Neither the oil of catechumens NOR the oil of chrism used after the water bath is supposed to be administered on the forehead, so it is doubtful that he was \u201cfollowing the book\u201d by anointing the forehead. The chrism is used for an anointing on the CROWN of the head. This distinction is actually important, and I doubt the Pope would get this wrong.<\/p>\n

(3) Third, the post-baptismal anointing (the Christic anointing) can\u2019t possibly be offered \u201cearlier\u201d but the exorcistic anointing (with the oil of catechumens) may be.<\/p>\n

(4) In the adult rite, the anointing with the oil of catechumens is done on the breast, hands, and possibly other parts of the body as well (an acknowledgement of the ancient precedent, now extremely rare, of full body anointing). I could imagine the Pope taking the model for adults, i.e. the fuller practice, and adapting it for a child. This would account for \u201cearlier\u201d anointing of chest, head, hands. But it won\u2019t square with the use of chrism.<\/p>\n

(5) Finally, chrism isn\u2019t blessed. It\u2019s consecrated.<\/p>\n

Then, of course, there are questions of interpretation.<\/p>\n

(A) Does the pope \u201cadd to the tradition\u201d by anointing hands? Not really. If it\u2019s the oil of catechumens (see above, #4), he\u2019s just applying a more liberal use of oil. That is very traditional indeed. I would see this as a pastoral adaptation that enhances the sign, rather than an attempt to \u201cadd to the tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

(B) Second, does anointing with the oil of catechumens have anything to do with the dignity of the person and how that dignity is expressed? Remembering that we are given a secondhand account, and none of us were there, the most we can do is speculate about \u201cWhat might this have meant\u201d in this setting, if the report is accurate.<\/p>\n

Anointing with the oil of catechumens is about the struggle against Satan. It is an oil for strengthening. So, one reasonable theological reading of the comment would be: yes, when the Christian is strengthened to resist evil, he becomes capable of showing forth the dignity for which he was created. And yes, he shows this dignity through the work of his hands as well as through his thoughts and the imagination.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, it\u2019s a stretch. Dignity and honor are much more clearly associated with the Christic anointing after Baptism than with the prebaptismal anointing. The anointing on the crown of the head with chrism is the consecratory anointing, evoking the royal, prophetic, and priestly identity of Christ, into which the child has entered by means of baptism. One wonders whether the purposes of the two (different) anointings are being conflated here, either by the Pope or by the reporter. (I\u2019m betting it\u2019s the reporter, but, having worked with pastors I know that anything is possible!)<\/p>\n

That said, the pastoral appropriateness of stressing dignity in this setting \u2013 given that the family is drawn from one of the lowliest and most despised classes of society \u2013 is crystal clear, and I applaud the pastoral sensitivity that may have been at work here.<\/p>\n

Finally, what are we to make of the fact that this was a \u201cprivate\u201d baptism? Baptism is normally and normatively a public celebration, to the joy of the whole church, even when \u201cpublic\u201d means a small assembly. It\u2019s clearly not a clinical or emergency situation here. So, one can only speculate on the practical circumstances that may have influenced this decision. Schedule conflicts? The desire not to overwhelm the family? Is the \u201cusual\u201d for a papal baptism so elaborate that it becomes difficult? Pope Francis really does seem to enjoy the intimacy and simplicity of his daily liturgy with a congregation; a baptism in a communal setting of this kind would not seem hard to imagine. If they settled on a \u201cprivate\u201d celebration to avoid the press, it seems the press got in anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An account of a baptism by Pope Francis, recently published in America<\/I> magazine, contains some puzzling features. Here’s a fact check.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[255,15,2224],"tags":[253,97],"class_list":["post-31722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children","category-initiation-rcia","category-pope-francis","tag-america-magazine","tag-baptism"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Does Pope Francis Baptize? - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/02\/how-does-pope-francis-baptize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Does Pope Francis Baptize? - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An account of a baptism by Pope Francis, recently published in America magazine, contains some puzzling features. 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