Pastor with over 20 years of experience resigns after performing ‘invalid’ baptisms

When performing the sacrament, Father Arango would say, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Team Newsable

Phoenix, First Published Feb 14, 2022, 9:17 PM IST | Last Updated Feb 14, 2022, 9:29 PM IST

A priest with over two decades’ worth of service to multiple congregations has resigned “with a heavy heart” in the wake of revelations that he incorrectly performed baptisms.

Rev. Andres Arango was conducting a baptism at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in Phoenix last year when some people in the pews heard a slight variation in the religious ritual.

When performing the sacrament, Father Arango would say, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

However, as the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the diocese aware, the use of the word “we” made the baptisms “invalid.” Instead, Arango was supposed to use the phrase “I baptize” rather than “we baptize.”

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Church leaders investigated and determined last month that Father Arango had incorrectly performed thousands of baptisms over more than 20 years, meaning those he had baptized in Phoenix and at his previous parishes in Brazil and San Diego were not properly baptized.

“In the specific case of the sacrament of baptism, not only does the minister not have the authority to modify the sacramental formula to his own liking, for the reasons of a Christological and ecclesiological nature, but neither can he even declare that he is acting on behalf of the parents, godparents, relatives or friends, nor in the name of the assembly gathered for the celebration, because he acts insofar as he is the sign-presence of the same Christ that is enacted in the ritual gesture of the Church,” the Congregation said, referring to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.

Father Arango, who did not respond to calls on Sunday seeking an interview, apologized in a statement and said he was resigning as pastor of the parish, effective Feb. 1.

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“It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula,” he said. “I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere.”

The Catholic News Agency reported on the botched baptisms this month.

According to the diocese, in the Catholic faith, a baptism is a sacrament in which people, often infants, have water poured on their foreheads, symbolizing purification and admission to the Church. It is a “requirement of salvation.”

Adhering to the baptismal formula is “extremely important to continuing the tradition of the Church,” said Neomi De Anda, professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

“It’s not supposed to be legalistic but about fellowship,” she added.

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