Question about my Baptism?
I was baptized as a Protestant (Fundamentalist Baptist) when I was 8 years old. I’m now 39. I came into the Church through RCIA back in April 2012 and have been living as a Catholic since. I don’t know if I’m being scrupulous here or not, but I’m having some doubts about the validity of my baptism. For a Baptism to be valid, it has to use the Trinitarian formula and “intend to do what the Church does“, right. So I’ve got a couple questions here…
1.) It’s been 31 years since I was baptized. I honestly don’t really remember at all the exact wording of the pastor when he baptized me. what if he didn’t use the correct formula and I am entirely unaware?
2.) A baptism has to “intend what the Church intends”. How is a Baptist baptism valid when Baptists only see Baptism as a “symbol of your faith” and doesn’t believe that Baptism washes away anything?
I was considering asking my priest to do a conditional baptism, but I don’t know how it is generally requested. what about my Sacraments of Confirmation and Matrimony? if I was somehow never baptized, would those have to be redone conditionally as well?
EDIT: Ok. My dad confirmed that the Baptist pastor does baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I was just worried that if I was somehow wrong, I’d spend my life believing I was a faithful Catholic and then somehow end up in Hell over all this.
Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:35 PM UTC