Baptism Certificate Help!

AeroGrl0504 · July 2011

Hello ladies! I usually lurk but have run into a biiiig problem and was wondering if any of you might have any ideas. I am Catholic and FI Anglican. We are having a Catholic wedding which, as you know, requires that we have our Baptismal certificates as part of our paperwork. I don't know if it is my church or all churches, but mine requires that we provide newly furnished certs. dated within six months of the wedding. Well, FI's church was an independent parish that no longer exists and it's founder/pastor long deceased. I don't know what we're supposed to do about getting a new cert. for him. We can get his original-should this be enough? Why does it have to be a new one?

agapecarrie · July 2011

Catholics' sacraments are recorded at the parish they were baptized in. When you are confirmed, the info goes to the original church of baptism for their records. THe same for marriage. The reason they want it within 6 months of the marriage is for proof that there haven't been any other marriages.

Anglicans are liturgical, so many of their practices are the same--since it was independant, they likely would not have transferred the records to an archive.

Couple Ideas: call another anglican parish and ask where these records might have gone. Since many protestant churches don't keep baptismal/marriage records, it is likely that you can have parents/friends sign something stating that he has never been married before. The original certiicate is sufficient to prove of the actual baptism.

kathleenkmm · July 2011

My church requires a new one for me, but my FI is Lutheran so they said his original one would be fine. I would call the church and explain your circumstances and ask if they will accept his original one.

mica178 · July 2011

We had a similar problem with H's baptism certificate. We submitted a copy of his confirmation certificate as well as a letter for his church stating that H is baptized but that there is no way to access the records. The SF Archdiocese accepted that documentation and allowed us to proceed. My church also told me that we could have used pictures of him being baptized as proof of baptism, but we didn't end up going that route.

I'd talk with the director of your parish, but I have a feeling that a copy of the original certificate will be sufficient. I don't know if other Christian denominations provide new baptism certificates the way Catholic churches do.

professorscience · July 2011

I was raised and baptized in a protestant church, and my original baptism certificate was enough.

AeroGrl0504 · July 2011

Thanks for all the quick responses! I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to the chruch as their office isn't open on the weekends :-( but hopefully, the original will be enough.

jaycare2012 · July 2011

I don't think you will have any issues.. It is the same at my church that if it is a non-catholic baptism then the original is okay

HelloKaty37 · August 2011

I've also heard that a signed letter from witnesses to the baptism (typically parents) will do in place of a baptismal certificate. I knew several people who had to do this in RCIA, one because the church he had been baptized in was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and never rebuilt.

ElisabethJoanne · August 2011

Wow! Ours will also be an Anglican+Roman Catholic marriage. I'm the Anglican, and it will all be at my parish, which doesn't require certificates.

The old parish records likely do exist somewhere. I don't know tons about Florida, but I do know tons about the real workings of Anglicanism in the U.S. If you send me a personal message, I might be able to help you track down the original records.

Another thing you might be able to do is a conditional baptism. I heard about this once upon a time: A man was selected to be confirmed by the Pope. He was in Rome with his parish priest. The priest forgot the baptismal certificate, so while waiting in line, he did a conditional baptism so he could tell the people reviewing the certificates, "I just baptized him."

In the Anglican tradition: 2 of my Priests were ordained, and then the ordaining Bishop died before he signed the paperwork. There was a canonical procedure whereby the clergy witnesses to the ordinations swore to what they witnessed. You might be able to use something like this to make up for the lack of a baptismal certificate.

cms4mf · August 2011

My fiance is presbyterian, and his church didn't keep records. Our priest (who's fairly by-the book and strict) said it's ok to have his mom write and sign a letter saying he was baptized. He said if there's a picture from the baptism that could be good as well.

agapecarrie · August 2011

Everyone is focusing on having any certificate. THey have the original--- the issue is a new one....which as I said before, is the proof there is no previous marriage. (Again, I believe its only the catholic church that uses the Baptismal certificate as the host for records of other sacraments)

ser523 · February 2014

I actually just had this conversation with my pastor today. I'm Catholic and FH is baptized Protestant. Only you, the Catholic has to have a new Baptismal certificate. The non-Catholic party can have an original copy and that will be sufficient.

Baptism Certificate Help!

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