A Catholic priest in Phoenix has resigned from his position after a church investigation found he had been incorrectly performing baptisms over his 20-year career — rendering the rite invalid for thousands of people. (Oops)
As he poured the holy water during the baptisms he performed, the Rev. Andres Arango would say, "We baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
But Father Arango misstated one word: "We baptize" should have been "I baptize." And getting that word wrong nullified all of the rituals he performed using that language.
"If you were baptized using the wrong words, that means your baptism is invalid, and you are not baptized," Olmsted wrote in a message to parishioners. "You will need to be baptized."
"The issue with using 'We' is that it is not the community that baptizes a person, rather, it is Christ, and Him alone, who presides at all of the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who baptizes."
The Diocese of Phoenix added that it did not believe Father Arango "had any intentions to harm the faithful or deprive them of the grace of baptism and the sacraments."
"With the help of the Holy Spirit and in communion with the Diocese of Phoenix I will dedicate my energy and full time ministry to help remedy this and heal those affected," Arango said.
