A priest is not required for baptism. Any one can baptize in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. It is a sacrament within the Catholic Church which affirms faith in Our Father and the trinity through which we understand Him. They are celebrations.
“The Latin word sacramentum means “a sign of the sacred.” The seven sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred, significant and important for (Catholic)Christians. They are special occasions for experiencing God’s saving presence. That’s what theologians mean when they say that sacraments are at the same time signs and instruments of God’s grace.”
In addition to Baptism there are, Communion, Confession, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination and, Anointment of the dying. None of these lead to salvation.
The Baptism of infants is the, “presentation” of a child to a Christian life and a symbolic cleansing of original sin with which we are all born. The later sacraments reaffirm our relationship with our faith but are not required nor essential for salvation. Salvation is by the Grace of God through ones seeking to live and declare yourself as a follower of Christ.
I pray all Christians would humble themselves in our Lord and not judge each other in how imperfectly we seek Him.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thank-you and God Bless.
Since the thread opening shows that a baby/infant can be baptized, yet continue with God or fall away, and the same can be said of any baby that was wrongly denied infant baptism they could one day become Roman C., there s no reason to deny baptism to any baby/infant - only God knows the future.
No justification if any of those babies wasn’t baptized.
You ask for mercy for all in your post, and this is good, but who should call out for mercy from God was the nuns/priest that didn’t care if they had an individual grave r baptism and the RCC that had the $ to procure an individual grave for each and didn’t