A Catholic priest in Phoenix, Arizona, recently discovered he has been making a small — but crucial — mistake while performing baptisms for the last 20 years. The Reverend Andres Arango, who has baptized children in Phoenix, San Diego, and Brazil, has been saying the wrong word the entire time.
Church authorities recently learned that Arango has been saying "we baptize" instead of "I baptize" for 20 years. Now families are scrambling to find out what, if anything, they should do.
The Diocese of Phoenix issued a statement that begins, "We are saddened to announce some difficult information regarding baptisms performed by Rev. Andres Arango, a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, who also had been a member of the Eudist religious community."
The statement continued, "After careful study, it has been determined that the form (words) Fr. Andres used for the sacrament of baptism has been incorrect, and all of the baptisms he has performed until June 17, 2021, are presumed invalid. Any baptisms performed by Fr. Andres after June 17, 2021, are presumed valid and do not need to be repeated."
Arango has also resigned from his post. He explained, "It is with a heavy heart that I find myself writing this letter of notification to a wonderful parish family that I once served."
He continued, "It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere."
The statement concluded, "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. In order to do this, I have resigned from my position as pastor of St. Gregory parish in Phoenix effective February 1, 2022."
The Catholic church has been quick to point out that any children who were not baptized correctly have not been damned. The Reverend Thomas J. Scirghi spoke to Today about the issue, explaining, "In this case, I would ask parents to focus on their faith in Almighty God and the God who loves them. More than they know."
However, it could mean that living people who were improperly baptized are in fact not considered Christian at all now. As Scirghi put it, "It’s not just an incorrect baptism — there is no baptism. I do not mean to sound cold, but there was never a baptism in the first place. And this is the problem — those poor, innocent folks. Because baptism is the way people enter the Christian community."
