Baptism: immersion or sprinkling?

The Easter Season is an incredible time in the Church as we celebrate Christ's resurrection and welcome new members, both young and old. Many witnessed adult baptism at Easter Vigils around the world, and now that Lent is over, Catholics may see infant baptisms regularly. That brings up a much-discussed question: Do people have to be fully immersed to be legitimately baptized, or can they just have holy water sprinkled on their heads?In Sacred Scripture, every time that baptism is recounted in detail it is actually baptism by immersion (see Mark 1:5 and Acts 8:38). But, as noted in an insert in the Fathers of the Church Bible, NABRE (OSV, $39.95), "the Catholic Church has always insisted that baptism by pouring water on the head is also valid, and indeed that is the normal practice in most churches today" (A-66).The basis for this teaching can be found in the Didache (or Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles), a brief work with instructions for the early Christian communities. Scholars believe it was written while most of the original apostles were still living.From the Fathers of the Church Bible:

It's worth noting that, even in the earliest Christian generations, both kinds of baptism were considered legitimate — although, in those days before church buildings, baptism by immersion in flowing water was the norm:

But concerning baptism, this is how you are to baptize. Having first recited all these instructions [a brief summary of Christian teaching, taken mostly from the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments], baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water.

But if you do not have running water, baptize in some other water; and if you cannot baptize in cold water, baptize in warm water.

But if you have neither, pour water three times on the head, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (Didache, 7)

For more insights from the early Church fathers, explore the Fathers of the Church Bible, which features St. Augustine, St. Jerome and many other Church fathers covering a wide range of topics.Jennifer Rey is the web editor of Our Sunday Visitor Publishing.