What happens if you are not Christened ?

Acc72

Hello All,

I attended a Christening recently that was very nice - the parents were Catholic - and was wondering, what happens if a child is not Christened ?

Does this prevent the child attending certain schools, or getting married in a Church when they grow up ?

Do these things still apply these days or is there anything else ?


Ps - without offending anybody, I am not asking about going to heaven when you die or anything particularly religious etc. just the practical implications (if any).

aileth

I don't know about schools or weddings, but my parents told me they christened me so I could be buried in a church graveyard (bit morbid). I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what they've always told me!

rachhh

I was never christened, my parents both were but they decided to allow me to grow up and choose my own religion.
I've not yet found it a barrier to anything in life, I even used to go to Sunday school, although I've now settled on atheism so don't plan to get married in a church...

Angelicdevil

I was christened a few days old because I was dying......

But to the OP's question.....Nothing, nothing happens at all!

cte1111

My sister and I weren't christened as our parents wanted us to make our own choices as adults. My sister wanted to get married in her local church (they live next door to it) and she chose to get christened at her wedding rehearsal. It wasn't compulsory though, as long as one of the partners is christened, then that's OK with the church.

claire16c

I'm not christened. It certainly hasn't affected me lol

My friends husband isn't and they got married in a church apparently the vicar just never asked them.

Fluff15

I know that our local Roman Catholic School gives priority to Catholics, then the rest of the admissions are done on who lives the closest.

Similarly with Catholics, if you want to get married in a Catholic church and only one partner is Catholic, you must obtain permission from your local Catholic Priest. Any couples wishing to marry in a Catholic church must have gone through a marriage preparation course, and you must preform the marriage under Canon law, else your marriage is considered invalid.

A client of mine is a catholic diocese, which is why I know all this - I'm not Catholic myself!

Pleaseadvise

One of my sister's schoolfriends died young in an accident and had not been christened. According to the family, the local vicar said he couldn't be buried at the local (C of E) church. This was about 20 years ago now, so things may have changed.

claire16c

One of my worst nightmares is being buried so if not being christened prevents that I'm all for it!

Nicki

The only issue I've ever heard of is that you can't be a godparent if you haven't been baptised yourself. Though even here I have heard of some vicars turning a blind eye.

Where I live most of the local Christian faith schools have more practising Muslims on roll than Christians, so clearly baptism into the Christian faith isn't a prerequisite, though again this might vary from school to school.

Acc72

claire16c wrote: »

My friends husband isn't and they got married in a church apparently the vicar just never asked them.

That is what I thought, I don't think that a document is signed or certificate issued (like a marriage certificate) at a Christening ?