{"id":145321,"date":"2023-08-29T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-relatives-are-blocking-me-from-the-church\/"},"modified":"2024-11-13T22:28:05","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T03:28:05","slug":"ask-a-priest-what-if-relatives-are-blocking-me-from-the-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-relatives-are-blocking-me-from-the-church\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: What If Relatives Are Blocking Me From the Church?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: A few years back my dad baptized me in the Name of the Father, in the Name of the Son and in the Name of the Holy Spirit (I asked him to), and I now wonder if it\u2019s considered valid? The reason I asked my dad to baptize me was because I desperately wanted to be baptized as Jesus said to do. But my entire family was (and sadly still are) Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses and wanted me to be baptized into the JW organization, and I knew they were wrong. My dad was the only one who listened, and he agreed I should be baptized in the Trinitarian formula. My dad passed away in 2019 from cancer (I cry every day still), and I live with my aunt due to disability. I know my aunt and her family care about me, but in the end they are JWs and try to get me to be one. I want to be Catholic and have studied Catholicism as best I can for a couple of years now (I do have a hard time learning, but I still try). I am sad that I may never be confirmed Catholic due to the fact of my family\u2019s forbidding it. I also can\u2019t drive, and they would never take me to a Catholic parish. So, I pray and try to be a good example. I\u2019m sorry for babbling. My overall question is, is at least my baptism considered valid since it was done in the Trinitarian formula with the right intent? Thank you for any help. \u2013 C.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em> A:\u00a0My heart goes out to you! Your great desire for baptism and your perseverance in the face of so much opposition to become a Catholic is inspiring. I’m sorry to hear about your situation and about the passing of your dad. May Our Lord rest his soul. First off, your relatives have no right to block your religious decisions. You have a right to pursue your interest in the Catholic faith. If you were a minor (which apparently isn\u2019t the case, judging by the original e-mail), you would want to reach out to Child Protective Services. This would help put your family on notice that what they are doing could be considered a form of abuse; that is, denying a legitimate request for spiritual counseling and help. As an adult, you could discreetly reach out to the nearest Catholic parish and explain your situation. Perhaps someone could arrange a ride for you so that you could attend an RCIA program<\/a> and even get to Mass occasionally. As for the baptism, it’s hard to say whether it was valid. The wording of the formula you mention \u2013 with the triple use of \u201cin the name of\u201d — implies a baptism in three names rather than one name (see the Catechism, No. 1240). This could be problematic. For the moment, though, you have certainly expressed a baptism of desire <\/em>(for more reading see this post<\/a>). The best thing would be to speak with the local Catholic pastor. If there are doubts about the validity of what was done, a conditional baptism could be carried out. This means that you would go through a baptismal rite just in case the first baptism wasn\u2019t really valid. This could happen if you decide to join the Church later (as the end point of the RCIA). In the meantime, it would be good to continue to study the Catholic faith. There are lots of materials online, including the Compendium<\/a> of the Catechism. Also helpful is the Catholic Answers site, which has insightful articles about the Jehovah’s Witnesses, including their beliefs<\/a> and ways to challenge<\/a> and evangelize<\/a> them. You might want to intensify your prayers for your JW relatives. Jesus loves them, too, and wants them to come to the fullness of the truth. Count on my prayers. Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE<\/a>,\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145321"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=145321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}