Baptism Certificate

Dunroamin

SavingPennies wrote: »

I think the OP is bunching together CofE, Methodist etc as generic "Christian". But, Id think for a catholic school the certificate would have to be from a catholic church.

Can you imagine the reaction he'd get from a Catholic priest if he expressed it like that?

Georgiegirl256

I was going to answer this by saying that a friend of mine who isn't religious/church going in the slightest/isn't catholic put her kids names down for the local catholic senior school and they got in, no babtism certificate needed....it's maybe different with primary schools, I don't know?

But something is making me suspicious about this question....you and your friend don't know that Catholics are Christians too? Then you say he'll just get a Christian church priest to do it rather thn go through the catholic church? Okaaaaay....

seven-day-weekend

I think possibly the OP is not from a Christian background at all and does not realise that the Catholic denomination is part of the Christian Church.

I would imagine the Baptism would have to be done in the Catholic church to be valid for the purpose for which it is required, and that the family would have to attend church.

TeamLowe

fluffnutter wrote: »

I can't help thinking that there should be a little more to a desire to be baptised a Catholic than simply liking the look of the local Catholic school. Seems rather self-serving and disingenuous to get yourself baptised for nothing but your own benefit. That's not really the point of being part of a religious community.

The friend may find that the priests are wise to this and don't give a baptism date until after the school places have been given out, that seems to be what happens in the area I work in.

OP your friend needs to check what the oversubscription criteria says for that particular school- some have baptised Catholic, some have baptised and live in a specific parish, some say attend a specific church for six/twelve months before applying. He needs to try to do what the oversubscription criteria says.

Of course, it depends on how popular the school actually is this year- if there's 30 places and only 30 people apply then no matter if they're baptised or not they'll all get a place

Claree__x

Mojisola wrote: »

I don't think this is right.

I was thinking this but I think it is correct. My daughter was baptized recently and no one asked if I had been but part of the ceremony is to REPEAT the vows that your parents made on your behalf and promise you'll teach the child the ways of the faith - which you'd struggle to do if you weren't of the faith yourself.

So although I wasn't asked for proof I'd say it was assumed - possibly cause I'd been attending long before I got pregnant so it would have been a pretty elaborate hoax

claire16c

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

I was going to answer this by saying that a friend of mine who isn't religious/church going in the slightest/isn't catholic put her kids names down for the local catholic senior school and they got in, no babtism certificate needed....it's maybe different with primary schools, I don't know?

But something is making me suspicious about this question....you and your friend don't know that Catholics are Christians too? Then you say he'll just get a Christian church priest to do it rather thn go through the catholic church? Okaaaaay....

I think most catholic schools have a set number of places available for non catholic kids - but obviously this will have high competition to get so people might think it's easier to just pretend to be catholic.

jackyann

It does depend on the local situation.
Most state-funded Catholic schools have to reserve a certain number of places for "other christians" and a certain number for "others".
You need to look on both the education authority website and the school's own website to get the information specific to the school in question; and some of it depends on exact local arrangements.
Some which are very over-subscribed will be very pernickety about finding out how often the family attend church etc. Others can be more relaxed.

As for Baptism - it sounds as if this person doesn't have a background to understand the different Christian practices in this country. Most Catholics & Anglicans are baptised as children; they can be baptised as adults, but will need to go through an education course, which can be more or less relaxed depending on the priest / vicar and church policy.
Baptists of course are not baptised until they are "of age"; other non-conformists tend to have "welcoming" rather than "baptismal" ceremonies, but they have fewer schools (!)

As I am trying to be helpful I will leave out any comment about the moral / ethical practices involved. But I would add that it is always a good idea to go & look round, really look round your local school and talk to the staff - not just make assumptions based on tittle-tattle.

Mojisola

Claree__x wrote: »

I was thinking this but I think it is correct. My daughter was baptized recently and no one asked if I had been but part of the ceremony is to REPEAT the vows that your parents made on your behalf and promise you'll teach the child the ways of the faith - which you'd struggle to do if you weren't of the faith yourself.

So although I wasn't asked for proof I'd say it was assumed - possibly cause I'd been attending long before I got pregnant so it would have been a pretty elaborate hoax

Parents have to promise to bring up the baptised child within the faith but it's quite common, these days, for at least one parent not to be a Catholic.

Claree__x

Mojisola wrote: »

Parents have to promise to bring up the baptised child within the faith but it's quite common, these days, for at least one parent not to be a Catholic.

This is true but I thought at least one parent would have to be? Happy to be corrected if not though.

notanewuser

Claree__x wrote: »

This is true but I thought at least one parent would have to be? Happy to be corrected if not though.

4 of my 5 nieces and nephews have been baptised catholic in the last 2 years. Both mothers are catholic but neither father is.