Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 196 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 196 - Part III. Who can be baptized, and what is required of a candidate?    

(Youcat answer - repeated) Any person who is not yet baptized can be baptized. The only prerequisite for Baptism is faith, which must be professed publicly at the Baptism.       

A deepening through CCC     

(CCC 1251) Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them (Cf. LG 11; 41; GS 48; CIC, can. 868).         

Reflecting and meditating    

(Youcat comment) A person who turns to Christianity is not just changing a world view. He travels a path of learning (the Catechumenate), in which he becomes a new man through personal conversion, but especially through the gift of Baptism. He is now a living member of the Body of Christ.   

(CCC Comment)    

(CCC 1252) The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole "households" received baptism, infants may also have been baptized (Cf. Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Cor 1:16; CDF, instruction, Pastoralis  actio: AAS 72 (1980) 1137-1156).        

 
(This question: Who can be baptized, and what is required of a candidate? is continued)