Baptism Question #2

[Neal4Christ]

Okay, I am sorry, but I am still having some problems understanding intentions. What is a habitual intention? We were watching a video by Fr. Corapi in RCIA this evening, and it was on the Catechism's teaching on baptism. He said that for intention it is simply to intend to baptize, i.e. it is the desired action the person wants to perform. Is this right? And does anyone have any documents that talk about the "intentions" of the Church in baptism?

I ask this because we are coming into full communion at Easter, and I want to be sure my baptism is valid. I can post the beliefs of the church in which I baptized, if need be to determine intent.

Thanks!

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Neal4Christ' date='Jan 14 2005, 02:36 AM']Okay, I am sorry, but I am still having some problems understanding intentions. What is a habitual intention?[/quote]
An habitual intention is an intention to receive a sacrament that is made at a certain point in time and never retracted, but which is not necessarily operative at the moment the sacrament is administered.

[quote name='Neal4Christ' date='Jan 14 2005, 02:36 AM']We were watching a video by Fr. Corapi in RCIA this evening, and it was on the Catechism's teaching on baptism. He said that for intention it is simply to intend to baptize, i.e. it is the desired action the person wants to perform. Is this right?[/quote]
Fr. Corapi is correct.

[quote name='Neal4Christ' date='Jan 14 2005, 02:36 AM']And does anyone have any documents that talk about the "intentions" of the Church in baptism?[/quote]
The teaching on the necessity of a proper intention on the part of the minister in administering a sacrament is a part of the theological tradition of the Church and as such is a [i]de fide[/i] doctrine. As Dr. Ott, in his book [u]Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma[/u], says, "The Council of Trent declared against the Reformers, who denied the necessity of the intention of the minister, as they recognized in the Sacrament a subjective, psychological efficacy only; '[i]Si quis dixerit, in ministris, dum sacramenta conficiunt et conferunt, non requiri intentionem saltem faciendi quod facit Ecclesia[/i].'" [Dr. Ludwig Ott, [u]Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma[/u], page 343] (Canon XI in English reads: "If any one says, that, in ministers, when they effect and confer the sacraments, there is not required the intention at least of doing what the Church does; let him be anathema.") [Trent, [u]Decree on the Sacraments[/u], canon XI]

[quote name='Neal4Christ' date='Jan 14 2005, 02:36 AM']I ask this because we are coming into full communion at Easter, and I want to be sure my baptism is valid. I can post the beliefs of the church in which I baptized, if need be to determine intent.

Thanks![/quote]
Your concern is understandable, but in this case your parish priest -- who of course has all the details surrounding your own particular case at hand -- is in the best position to determine if your baptism is valid.

The only Churches in the United States that I know of off hand that do not validly administer baptism are the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses (in addition, I believe some Pentecostal groups don't validly baptize people either, because they do not use the proper Trinitarian formula).

God bless,
Todd