In the name of

Late in February the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (remember the inquisition?) promulgated a statement from the Vatican clarifying that anyone baptized with the wrong words has not been baptized at all. The wrong words include “in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier.” The right words seem to be only “in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

I am so sad about the state of my church. I can’t imagine God gives a hoot which words are used as long as the parents’ and community’s hearts are in the right place. What a shame that we spend our time arguing trivia instead of building a better world. With ruling like this, is it any surprise that we have fewer and fewer priests willing to put on the straightjacket?

Even sadder, I find, are the number of my fellow Catholics who egg on the hierarchy, tormenting them with endless pinpricks of complaint about how our precious tradition is being violated. I am tired, this is not church, this is third grade.