Many come to church on great church holidays, turn to priests for communion, confession, etc. In Christian families, it is customary to baptize children, but not every priest will agree to carry out this ceremony with a child born out of wedlock.
Baptism is the beginning of the spiritual path, the entrance to the community of believers. This rite signifies a willingness to follow Christ and follow the teachings of the gospel. The church baptizes all children whose parents agreed to the sacrament and turned to the temple.
Why might a cleric refuse to baptize a child born out of wedlock?
In some churches, priests refuse to baptize children born out of wedlock. They explain this by saying that being born out of wedlock is a sin, adultery. However, officially, the church has no right to refuse the sacrament of baptism, because before God everyone is equal.
Clergyman Vasily Yunak also does not give a specific answer to this question, but he tells why in some churches the clergy refuse to baptize children born out of wedlock. God and the Church see all events in the same way, but if the Lord feels with his heart and understands the true meaning, then people rely on external factors. Being born out of wedlock is a sin, the church cannot tolerate this. Even if a clergyman is ready to baptize a child, he must condemn the offense.
If the priest refused to perform the sacrament, the Lord will accept the unbaptized child, because the infant should not be responsible for the actions of his parents. As he grows up, he himself will decide on baptism. Should we pay attention to people who condemn the birth of children out of wedlock, and listen to priests who refuse the sacrament? Only you can decide.
What if the church refused to baptize the child?
If in one church you were denied the baptism of a child, this does not mean that all clergymen are against conducting the sacrament with children born out of wedlock. If the priest does not agree to baptize, contact another church. Some mothers in such cases do not dare to be baptized in infancy, give the child the opportunity to perform the sacrament after adulthood.
“All are pleasing to God” - this is how many clergymen answer. That is why most of them are rarely interested in whether a child is born in marriage or not, with the help of IVF or a surrogate mother. If a child was born, then this is the will of God. Can the church refuse to baptize a child born out of wedlock? Yes, but it largely depends on the opinion of the priest. If one parish was refused, then the second one may not even be interested in whether the child was born in an official marriage.
