VATICAN CORNER
The newborn children of Vatican employees were baptized by Pope Francis on Sunday January 8, 2017 in the Sistine Chapel during the annual Mass celebrating the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. During the Christmas season, this Mass is one of the rare occasions when the Pope can celebrate a liturgy away from the large public crowds and with his immediate family within the Vatican. He baptized thirteen girls and fifteen boys at this more intimate setting where he could act more like a parish priest than a head of state. St. Pope John Paul II began the custom of baptizing the children of the Vatican personnel on this day, and it was continued by Pope Benedict XVI, and by Pope Francis. In keeping with the informal feel of the event, Pope Francis spoke without a prepared text. He reflected on the faith which parents pass onto their children as a source of “light”, linking that image to the baptismal candle presented to the parents during the ceremony. As Francis was speaking, several of the babies began to cry, causing him to joke “the concert has begun!” He said “I like to think that the first sermon Jesus gave in the stable was a cry,” referring to baby Jesus in the manger. He reminded mothers that they can nurse their children if they’re hungry, saying, “go ahead, don’t be afraid, like Mary breastfed Jesus.” He kept his remarks short, noting the babies could be upset by a new place or perhaps were awakened early for the ceremony Sunday morning. Parents approached Francis one by one, with mothers holding their babies while dressed in finery. Francis pronounced each child’s name as he performed the sacrament formally welcoming them into the Catholic Church. Some babies slept through it all; others fussed. Pope Francis told the parents “You’ve asked for the faith for your children, the faith that’s given in baptism, that means a life of faith, because faith must be lived … to walk on the path of faith and give witness to the faith. Faith isn’t reciting the Creed on Sundays when we go to Mass, faith is believing in that which is the truth. Faith is trusting in God, and you must teach them this with your example and your life.”
Sources: cruxnow.com, dailymail.co.uk, zenit.org, news.va