Children can be baptised from birth and the Catholic Church strongly recommends that parents do not overly delay in seeking baptism for their new-born babies. Most children are baptised within the first few months after their birth.

Sometimes older children, before they start school, or sometimes after they start school ask for baptism as well. 

Sometimes people who are brought up in the Catholic faith drift away for one reason or another. The birth of a child is often an opportunity for parents to reflect on what is truly important in life and the type of lifestyle and values in which they plan to raise their child. For some people that leads them to return to the practice of the faith of their childhood. If that is you then please know you are very welcome at Our Lady of Mercy! We hope and pray that you find in us a community in which your family can worship and grow in discipleship of Jesus Christ.

It is also the case that parents seek baptism for their child without wanting to practice the faith themselves. Perhaps because one of the parents is from a different Christian denomination or of a different religion, or for another reason altogether. When you have your child baptised part of the ceremony requires you to make a solemn promise before God that you will raise your child in the practice of the faith. At Our Lady of Mercy we want to help you make that promise fully informed of what it means and support you to keep it. If you think this might describe your situation then contact us and we can talk together and decide what is the best way forward.

The baptism of their child is an important celebration for the parents and they naturally want to invite as many family and friends as possible to take part. One of the ways they do this is by inviting certain people to assume the role of godparent.

The godparents support the parents in raising the child in the practice of the Christian faith, and during the baptism ceremony make a solemn vow to God to be faithful to this commitment.

In the Catholic Church you can have up to two godparents. If there is one godparent, they can be either male or female; if there are two godparents then one must be male and the other female.

To be a godparent, you must be Roman Catholic, be baptised, confirmed and regularly receiving Holy Communion. You must also be older than 16 years.

Sometimes the parents will want to invite others to take a special part in the baptism of their child, but they are unable to fulfil the conditions above for being a godparent. In this case you can invite them to be a witness to the baptism, there is no limit on the people you can ask to be witness, but there must always be at least one godparent. Please also know that only the name of the godparent(s) will be put in the baptism register and appear on the baptism certificate.

At Our Lady of Mercy Parish we have no influence over school admissions. For us, baptism is an invitation for a family to enter into a relationship of faith and love with Jesus Christ within the context of our Catholic Christian community. Receiving a Catholic Education may be part of that, but it is not essential.

Enquiries about admission to schools are best directed to the individual school; however, we would be happy to discuss your child's baptism with you at any time.

You can use the link below to fill in an application form online, or you can collect a form from Church or the parish office.

Infant Baptism Form

When we have received your application one of our volunteers who help families with baptism will contact you. Usually, before a date can be set, we will ask the parents to attend some preparation sessions. These sessions help the parents understand more about the baptism ceremony and the meaning of the promises they will take on their child's behalf.

If you have any general enquiries about baptism, please don't hesitate to contact us.

In the Catholic Church you are normally baptised in the parish within which you live - your 'home' parish. Sometimes exceptions are made if the parents, while living outside the parish, still attend Mass in the parish. Normally, however, people from outisde the parish are directed to their own parish.

If you have any questions about this one of the priests or catechists will be able to help you.