Pope Leo XIV celebrated the great day of Baptism on the Angelus. As is tradition, he baptized several newborns. His subsequent address once again reveals the Roman Church’s profound paganism.
Inhalt / Content
Pope celebrates Baptism Day
Last Sunday’s Angelus was a “great day for baptism.” Pope Leo XIV followed in the tradition of his predecessors and performed a number of infant baptisms on this occasion. In his address, the Pontiff referred to the baptism of Jesus Christ and quoted verses from the Gospel of Matthew (e.g., Matthew 3:16):
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:“
Leo says: “He comes into our midst with the wisdom of his incarnate word and includes us in a surprising project of love for all humanity.” (Source)
In this context, the Pope emphasizes baptism as a sacrament. This process introduces people into the Church. Leo referred to the newborns he baptized as our brothers and sisters who have become in faith. Baptism (into the Roman Catholic Church) is, at the moment of death, the door to heaven.
Somewhat unrealistic
At this point, one should really question whether the Pope or one of his bishops had a conversation with each infant before their baptism and conveyed the profession of faith. For a newborn to decide “in faith” for baptism requires a great deal of imagination, a certain denial of reality—in other words, the traditional self-understanding of the Roman Catholic Church.
In fact, baptism according to Roman Catholic tradition, as well as that of the (former) Protestant churches that adhered to Roman Catholic tradition, corresponds to the precepts of paganism. The Gospel, however, presents a completely different picture of baptism. It must, in fact, be a baptism based on (genuine) faith. And, objectively speaking, this is completely impossible in infancy (Info).
Is the gates of heaven also open?
To describe baptism as the gateway to the Kingdom of Heaven is not entirely wrong, but it is by no means a guarantee that this gateway is wide open. Baptism alone is far from sufficient. It requires a transformation of life and character with the goal of overcoming sin and living a life entirely according to God’s will (Info). The umbrella organization of the German Protestant churches (EKD) has joined forces in this regard. They’re so bold as to even describe baptism as the guarantee of salvation and the ticket to heaven (Info). Equally absurd.
A person being baptized remains a Catholic for life.
Indeed, a person, even as an infant, enters the Church of Rome through baptism. The Church formally incorporates the person, and according to its understanding, they remain there for life. It makes no difference whether, after accepting reason and understanding, the person makes a salutary escape from the Church or is even excommunicated. Once a Catholic, always a Catholic. In the understanding of Thomas Aquinas, a person makes a “promise” at their baptism (as an infant!?). Should they subsequently leave the Church at some point, they may have to be compelled, possibly through physical force (torture), to fulfill their promise. (Summae Theologiae, 22-23, Question 10, Article 8).
However, those who have never been baptized Roman Catholic are by no means safe from persecution by the Church. Although Aquinas also emphasizes that “pagans” should not be forced to convert to Catholicism, this Roman institution reserves the right to intervene if it considers its unity to be threatened. In doing so, it effectively grants itself a clean bill of health, as this is open to interpretation, and many an entire ethnic group has been wiped off the face of the earth for this reason (e.g., Waldensians, Albigensians, Heruli, Ostrogoths, Vandals).
Canon documents the confiscation of the baptized
The act of “collecting” the baptized person can certainly be understood in this way. This is shown in the Roman Catholic Canon (1983, Canon 96).
“By baptism one is incorporated into the Church of Christ and is constituted a person in it with the duties and rights which are proper to Christians in keeping with their condition, insofar as they are in ecclesiastical communion and unless a legitimately issued sanction stands in the way.“
By doing so, the baptized person submits irrevocably to the laws of the Church for their entire life (as an infant!?).
This traditional baptism is what it is: paganism through and through. Just like the Roman Catholic Church itself, “baptized paganism”! (Info)
denn um Seines Namens willen sind sie ausgezogen, ohne von den Heiden etwas anzunehmen.
3 John 1:7
Bible verses from King James Version
Deutsch
English
