I assumed it was something more for “officially” recognizing the child as being part of the Church, or some sort of thing like that. Interesting though, from the 5-minutes of googling that I did, it seems to be only in “extreme cases involving life or death” that anyone other than a priest or deacon would normally baptize somebody else. It would probably be debated about whether this was really a life or death situation, though it does seem like an unnecessary risk for that old priest given that the parents are unmasked. Literally all they had to do was sprinkle some water on the kid and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” and they could’ve avoided the silliness.
I assumed it was something more for “officially” recognizing the child as being part of the Church, or some sort of thing like that. Interesting though, from the 5-minutes of googling that I did, it seems to be only in “extreme cases involving life or death” that anyone other than a priest or deacon would normally baptize somebody else. It would probably be debated about whether this was really a life or death situation, though it does seem like an unnecessary risk for that old priest given that the parents are unmasked. Literally all they had to do was sprinkle some water on the kid and say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” and they could’ve avoided the silliness.
It’s all part of the careful dance of the uselessly employed.
They’re in a church, the silliness is literally all around them.