Arizona is famous for its Grand Canyon, a monumental fissure, 1,800 meters deep in places, and which extends over nearly 500km. But for several days, there has been another abyss, this one of incomprehension, which has affected Catholics throughout the state.
On February 1, 2022, the television channel Telemundo Arizona, revealed that the baptismal ceremonies celebrated for 17 years by a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, are probably invalid.
And since baptism is the necessary door of entry into the Church and into the sacramental life, it follows that all the other sacraments received subsequently are also invalid.
Incidentally, one does not even dare to imagine the scale of the catastrophe, if one of the subjects thus baptized, in an invalid way, had been ordained a priest as an adult…
The information actually started leaking out on January 14th. That day, the Bishop of Phoenix took up the pen to write to all his faithful: “I write to you today for the purpose of sharing some information that is as difficult to hear as it is challenging for me to announce… baptisms performed by Reverend Andres Arango, a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, are invalid,” wrote Bishop Thomas Olmsted.
The announcement, which fell like a cold shower, is based on a doctrinal note issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on August 6, 2020 which declared invalid the “baptisms” celebrated with a defective form such as “in the name of the father and the mother, of the godfather and the godmother, of the grandparents, of the members of the family, of the friends, in the name of the community, etc. We baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
As the minister acts in persona Christi in confecting the baptism, “not only does the minister not have the authority to dispose of the sacramental formula as he pleases… but he cannot even declare that he is acting in the name of parents, godparents, family members or friends, or even on behalf of the assembly itself gathered for the celebration,” recalled the CDF.
Aware of the gravity of the situation, Bishop Olmsted said, “I pledge to take every step necessary to remedy the situation for everyone impacted,” and is launching a major online investigation to identify all those concerned and validly confer on them all the sacraments due to them.
At the same time, the diocese announced that Fr. Arango will no longer be a parish priest at St. Gregory’s, as of February 1, 2022, so that he may devote his time to repairing the wrong he has committed.
If this prompt reaction is to the credit of the diocese of Phoenix, and also to that of the CDF, it must nevertheless be remembered that this kind of misbehavior was born of the liturgical reform and especially of the conception of baptism as an integration into the community. And besides, if the CDF was forced to issue such a warning, it was because this kind of practice was beginning to spread.
The diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, (United States) has just launched a call for assistance to find people who have been “baptized” by a priest who has been using an invalid formula as a priest of the diocese since 2005.
