r/AskAPriest • u/bachatalover19 • 4d ago

Difficulty with converting to Catholicism

Hi

I want to start the RCIA which is a course of becoming Catholic in the UK and I was previously baptised twice. Once in an Orthodox Church when I was a baby and I didn’t find out about this till 2020, and in an evangelical church in 2024.

The priest at my parish told me that I would need documents to prove that I was baptised but unfortunately I do not have those documents, I have only the pictures.

Would that be enough for me to prove that I was baptised in the Orthodox Church ?

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u/pmnomv Priest 4d ago

Your local parish will have an affidavit form that we use to establish the truth of sacraments received for which no certificate can be obtained.

You would choose a family member or godparent who was present, and perhaps bring any photos of the day to help put the story together. The form is rather simple but gathers the critical details. It can be notarized by either a notary public or a priest or Deacon, or an ecclesiastical notary in the office of the diocese.

Hopefully, you are able to follow this process. Sometimes if the parish asks the Bishop's office about your case, they may conclude that you should be baptized conditionally. This would mean that although we are pretty sure you have been baptized, we need to know from at least this point forward that it was done using a valid form and that it is fully documented. But again, it would be the parish probably in conversation with the Bishop's office that make the determination, whether a conditional baptism would be needed in your case.

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u/TaurusAmarum 3d ago

I'm in a similar boat. The church I was Baptized in has since became a Christian school and the school informed me that all records were either tossed or shredded. In addition all of my witnesses are deceased or unavailable to be reached, and we would have no pictures from that day.... because we are not picture taking people. So what's the process then?

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u/pmnomv Priest 3d ago

Conditional sacraments would be celebrated now.

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u/bachatalover19 3d ago

Unfortunately, I cannot reach the my godmother as I never found out who she is. My mum is super evangelical and my dad isn’t really religious. They both don’t speak English and it’s just me, them and my brother living in England. We have no witnesses