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Topics: US News
Cameron Frew
A Catholic priest in Phoenix has been forced to apologise after thousands of his baptisms were ruled to be invalid.
Reverend Andres Arango has served for two decades across Brazil, the Diocese of San Diego and the Diocese of Phoenix. However, he's since apologised, asked for forgiveness and resigned as a parish pastor over a grammatical error in his baptisms.
'It is with sincere pastoral concern that I inform the faithful that baptisms performed by Reverend Andres Arango, a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, are invalid,' Bishop Thomas Olmsted said, describing the revelation 'as difficult to hear as it is challenging for me to announce'.
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According to a doctrinal note from August 2020, as reported by the Catholic News Agency, the baptism conferred with, 'We baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit', which is an invalid formula.
'The issue with using ‘We’ is that it is not the community that baptises a person, rather, it is Christ, and Him alone, who presides at all of the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who baptises,' Olmsted said.
'I do not believe Fr. Andres had any intentions to harm the faithful or deprive them of the grace of baptism and the sacraments. On behalf of our local church, I too am sincerely sorry that this error has resulted in disruption to the sacramental lives of a number of the faithful. This is why I pledge to take every step necessary to remedy the situation for everyone impacted,' the bishop added.
'It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere. With the help of the Holy Spirit and in communion with the Diocese of Phoenix I will dedicate my energy and full-time ministry to help remedy this and heal those affected,' Arango also wrote in a letter following the news.
'I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience my actions have caused and genuinely ask for your prayers, forgiveness, and understanding.'
The Phoenix diocese has provided an explainer and contact form for parents or anyone who believes they've been incorrectly baptised. 'If you were baptised using the wrong words, that means your baptism is invalid, and you are not baptised. You will need to be baptised,' the church said.
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