A terrible incident occurred in Romania when a six-week-old baby died during a baptism service. The infant was baptized according to Romania’s Orthodox Church’s customary procedures by being submerged in holy water three times. Sadly, the youngster experienced cardiac arrest.
After the baptism service, a one-and-a-half-month-old infant was discovered in cardiac arrest in the church, according to Dan Teodorovici, a local hospital representative. He added that the SMURD team that shows up right away calmed the infant down. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and mechanically ventilated while being intubated.
The child’s lungs had water in them, according to an autopsy performed after his or her death. The little kid’s upset dad said that around 110 milliliters of liquid were discovered in the child’s lungs. He said that the infant showed signs of distress throughout the ceremony. He even accused the priest of failing to stop when he saw the kid in pain.
In an interview with a local news outlet, he stated that the kid was wailing, however the priest dunked him in water three times, and he inhaled water. He took him out of the physicians’ office and discovered that he had inhaled 110ml of water. One wouldn’t fully submerge a baby in water if you saw him with a gaping mouth and sobbing, would you?
He went on to say that blood was on the infant’s nose. To drain the water, he turned him face down. He did not get well. The terrible death of the kid is being investigated by the authorities in the meantime. On the other side, the church claimed that without a doubt, this is a terrible issue that has to be looked into. Let’s not think that a kid can be submerged in water without having his mouth, nose, and ears covered. An expert priest usually employs a certain method. This is the most careful way baptism is honored.
The horrifying episode caused widespread indignation in the neighborhood. To alter the rite of the church, a petition has been started online. To support the demand, more than 61,000 individuals have already signed up. Vladimir Dumitru, the person who began the petition, indicated that their goal was to reform the often cruel practice of baptism rather than to outlaw it. This was particularly the case in cases when infants had health issues.
The petition, Dumitru continued, “has a constructive goal and is not meant at the priests or the Church institution.” While some religious authorities are amenable to altering the long-standing custom, others remain insistent. They declared, they won’t ever alter the tradition. This religion’s canons date back more than a thousand years. Because of this, they won’t alter. They don’t feel threatened, the Tomis Archbishop added.
