Parents should email Elssie Saldaña at 608-257-5000 or email [email protected] to schedule a Baptism and the baptismal preparation sessions in English or Spanish (Catholicism 101).

Children should be baptized within the first weeks after birth. You are enthusiastically encouraged to arrange a date for the Baptism and to participate in Catholicism 101 before the child is born!

The actual requirement is quite minimal. You are only obliged to avoid names that are “foreign to a Christian mentality.”  It is highly desirable that either the first or middle name of the child be that of a Saint or of other Christian significance.

Yes. Baptisms usually occur on Saturdays at 9am in English and 10am in Spanish. We will do everything we can to accommodate visiting family considerations.

Since Baptism is a celebration of the community of the Church, it would not be appropriate to separate ceremonies artificially, celebrating one individual Baptism after another. In fact, however, there is seldom more than one child being baptized, so the ceremonies are in practice usually individual.

No. Your child already belongs to your human family. In Baptism, the child is being baptized into the community of the Church. The Baptism should take place in our parish church, St. James.

Generally, yes. Every Catholic should be a registered member of the local parish where he or she regularly attends Mass; and that parish is the place where the members of your family should normally receive the Sacraments.  If you are not currently registered, but regularly come to Mass at St. James (or are beginning to do so), you will be encouraged to register.

There is occasionally a situation in which parents who live far from Madison want to have a child baptized here because the majority of their relatives live here. This is permitted, but the parents must (1) be registered members of their own local parish; (2) complete the baptismal preparation required by their home parish; and (3) obtain the permission of their pastor for the Baptism to occur here.

Yes. A child may be baptized so long as there is a well-founded hope that he or she will be brought up in the practice of the Faith. This is present so long as one parent is willing to practice the Catholic Faith and share it with the child. A child is not penalized for having been born out of wedlock.

If the parents of a child are living together without the benefit of marriage or in a civil marriage not recognized by the Church, they would be encouraged to regularize their situation so that they can fully practice the Faith they are called to share with their child.

Questions about specific situations should be discussed with Fr. Drew Olson or Dcn. Todd Burud. If the parents are willing to do what they can, there is never an insurmountable obstacle to the Baptism of a child.

Parents have the responsibility to raise their children in the Catholic Faith. In order to do so, at least one parent should be Catholic.

If you are not currently Catholic but wish to enter the Church yourself in conjunction with the Baptism of your child, that is certainly possible. This process would involve prayer, instruction, and sharing in the life of the Catholic community over several months at least. The most appropriate conclusion to this process is for the family to be baptized together. 

First, only one sponsor is required, and that sponsor may be of either sex.

Secondly, although it is preferable that sponsors be present for the Baptism, this is not required. One or both sponsors may be represented by proxy (someone present at the Baptism who speaks for the absent sponsor). There are no special requirements for proxies (i.e., they need not be Catholic).

Finally, it is not required that godparents be relatives of the parents. If you are a part of the life of our parishes, you have come to know friends here who could be very fine sponsors for your child.

No. The Church does not want the responsibility of sponsors to be diluted. The maximum number of sponsors is two; and if there are two, one must be male and one female.

No. To sponsor someone to become a member of the Catholic Church, one must be a Catholic oneself. (Could you imagine sponsoring someone to become a member of the Elks Club if you yourself were not an Elk?)

Yes – but anyone with an official role in the Baptism (parent, sponsor or witness) should give their attention to that responsibility and not serve as a photographer during the ceremony itself.

No. Since it is presumed that the parents belong to the parish and are regularly supporting the Church according to their ability, there is no fee for Baptism. The priest performing the Baptism is often given a monetary gift as a token of appreciation, but this is at the discretion of the family.  If the parents do live elsewhere and are celebrating the Baptism here for the convenience of the family, a donation to the parish would be very appropriate.