How do I have a child baptized in the Catholic Church?

Congratulations on your decision to raise your children in the Catholic faith and have them baptized. This is the start of their sacramental journey and you are taking on the responsibility of being the primary faith educator of your child. Your guidance and support starts now and is never-ending.

The first thing you need to do is contact your parish. Each parish has a different preparation process for the parents and perhaps the godparents as well. Make sure one of your godparents is a Catholic and is prepared to provide a copy of their baptismal certificate. Parishes will ask for this information from you as well if you were not raised there.
Some parishes integrate baptisms as part of weekend Masses, while others have baptisms with several families during the weekend.

Visit for your local diocesan website to see if they have baptism resources for you to read.

Catholic Review

The Catholic Review is the official publication of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.