MyCatholicSource.com - 'Quick Help' Page: When Can Sacraments Be Given Conditionally?

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According to the Baltimore Catechism...

"The Sacraments can be given conditionally as often as we doubt whether they were properly given before, or whether they can be validly given now."

Also from the Baltimore Catechism... (emphasis added)

Q. What do we mean by giving a Sacrament conditionally?

A. By giving a Sacrament conditionally we mean that the person administering the Sacrament intends to give it only in case it has not been given already or in case the person has the right dispositions for receiving it, though the dispositions cannot be discovered.

Q. Give an example of how a Sacrament is given conditionally.

A. In giving Baptism, for instance, conditionally - or what we call conditional Baptism - the priest, instead of saying absolutely as he does in ordinary Baptism "I baptize thee...", says "If you are not already baptized, or if you are capable of being baptized, I baptize thee...", thus stating the sole condition on which he intends to administer the Sacrament.

Q. Which of the Sacraments are most frequently given conditionally?

A. The Sacraments most frequently given conditionally are Baptism, Penance, and Extreme Unction; because in some cases it is difficult to ascertain whether these Sacraments have been given before or whether they have been validly given, or whether the person about to receive them has the right dispositions for them.

Q. Name some of the more common circumstances in which a priest is obliged to administer the Sacraments conditionally.

A. Some of the more common circumstances in which a priest is obliged to administer the Sacraments conditionally are: (1) When he receives converts into the Church and is not certain of their previous baptism, he must baptize them conditionally. (2) When he is called - as in cases of accident or sudden illness - and doubts whether the person be alive or dead, or whether he should be given the Sacraments, he must give absolution and administer Extreme Unction conditionally.

Q. What is the use and effect of giving the Sacraments conditionally?

A. The use of giving the Sacraments conditionally is that there may be no irreverence to the Sacraments in giving them to persons incapable or unworthy of receiving them; and yet that no one who is capable or worthy may be deprived of them. The effect is to supply the Sacrament where it is needed or can be given, and to withhold it where it is not needed or cannot be given.

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