The Rite of Baptism for Children was published in 1969 as one of the first fruits of the liturgical reform called for by the Second Vatican Council, and it was designed with the actual situation of a family in mind: parents and godparents speak throughout, and the ceremony assumes that the child's faith will be carried by the household and the parish until the child can profess it personally. Canon law asks that infants be baptized within the first weeks after birth, and that the celebration take place in the parish church, preferably on a Sunday or at the Easter Vigil, and when possible with several children together. The rite has four parts. In the Reception of the Children the minister asks the name chosen, what the parents ask of the Church for their child, and whether parents and godparents understand what they are undertaking; he then traces the sign of the cross on the child's forehead and invites them to do the same, claiming the child for Christ. The Celebration of God's Word follows, with readings, a homily, intercessions, the invocation of the saints, a prayer of exorcism, and the anointing with the oil of catechumens or the laying on of hands. At the font the water is blessed, or blessed water from the Easter Vigil is used with a prayer of thanksgiving. Parents and godparents renounce sin and profess the faith of the Church in the words of the Apostles' Creed, and the celebrant asks whether it is their will that the child be baptized in that faith. The child is then baptized by immersion or by pouring water three times on the head while the minister says: "N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." That form and the washing with water are the essentials; anyone, even an unbaptized person, may baptize in danger of death using them with the intention of doing what the Church does. The explanatory rites follow: anointing with sacred chrism on the crown of the head, signifying the share in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and kingly office; the clothing with the white garment; and the giving of a candle lit from the Paschal candle to the father or godparent, with the charge to keep the flame of faith alive. The Ephphetha, the touching of ears and mouth, may be added. All then go to the altar to pray the Lord's Prayer, and the rite closes with a blessing of the mother, the father, and the whole assembly. The ordinary ministers are bishop, priest, and deacon. At least one godparent is required, a confirmed and practicing Catholic at least sixteen years of age; a baptized non-Catholic may take part as a Christian witness alongside a Catholic godparent.

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