Page 11 - IAV Digital Magazine #540

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Baptisms Performed By Arizona Priest Declared Invalid Due To The Word ‘WE’
By Ben Hooper
Feb. 15 (UPI) -
- An Arizona priest resigned from the Diocese of Phoenix after officials announced a sin- gle changed word invalidated all the baptisms he per- formed until June 2021.
The Diocese of Phoenix said all baptisms per- formed by the Rev. Andres Arango until June 17, 2021, were invalid because the priest said "we" instead of "I" when reciting the phrase, "I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit."
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified
in 2020 that sacraments using the word "we" are invalid.
"The issue with using 'we' is that it is not the commu- nity that baptizes a person, rather, it is Christ, and him alone, who pre-
sides at all of the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who bap- tizes," Diocese of Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said in a letter to congre- gants.
Arango resigned
from the diocese effective Feb. 1. The diocese said Arango remains a priest in good standing.
"It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms through- out my ministry as
a priest by regu- larly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere," Arango said in
a statement on the diocese's
website.
Arango said his resignation will allow him to "ded- icate my energy and full time min- istry to help reme- dy this and heal those affected."
"I sincerely apolo- gize for any inconvenience my actions have caused and gen- uinely ask for your prayers, for- giveness, and understanding," he wrote.
The diocese post- ed a form online for anyone affect- ed by the invali- dated baptisms. Officials said other sacraments, including mar- riage, might need to be repeated if they followed an invalid baptism.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine