The entire career of the priest Andres Arango called into question. The Catholic priest submitted his resignation on April 1 after practicing invalid baptisms for many years.
At the origin of this enormous business, a simple error of formulation. Rather than the traditional formula “I baptize in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, Father Andres Arango used “We baptize” for a large part of his career as a priest.
“The problem with using ‘We’ is that it is not the community that baptizes a person, rather it is Christ, and He alone, who presides over all the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who baptizes,” said Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, Thomas Olmsted, in a message to parishioners last month.
The validity of baptisms called into question
However, according to an opinion of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine in Faith issued in 2020, when a baptism is pronounced with the formula “We baptize”, it is immediately invalidated and must be performed again.
“It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my mistake and how it affected many people in your parish and elsewhere, ”regrets the culprit on the parish’s website, before submitting his resignation on April 1 from St Gregory’s parish in Phoenix.
Sacraments to be redone for the faithful concerned
“I, too, am sincerely sorry that this error has caused a disruption in the sacramental life of a number of the faithful. This is why I am committed to taking all necessary measures to remedy the situation for all those affected,” Olmsted said in remarks reported by CNN.
This unfortunate mistake has serious consequences since baptism has always been the first sacrament. With a pronounced cancellation of the latter, all of the following sacraments will also have to be performed again.
In order to help people affected by an invalid baptism, the diocese has set up a website to share the various questions of the faithful and make an appointment for a new baptism.