On the one hand neither set of parents practice the Faith. The baptismal promises made by the parents require them to give assent to raising the children in the Faith. It would be extremely hypocritical of them to promise it and not deliver.
On the other hand why should the children be denied the grace of the Sacrament because their parents are too uneducted or stubborn or claim to be waiting for the godmother's schedule to clear so they can book this baptism (never mind this nonsense has been going on for nearly 3 years!)
I know that if something tragic happened God is merciful and their souls will be looked after. At the same time the Church teaches that the usual way for someone to get to heaven is to be baptized with water, with the required intention, and using the Trinitarian formula. Yes, I know about baptism of desire and baptism of blood but I am talking about little children here.
I worry all the time about the souls of aborted babies too. Someone once even dared to suggest the souls of these poor babies go to Hell. A much wiser friend said that God in His mercy would surely have some sort of provision for these Holy Innocents even though nobody intended to baptize these children.
My prayer for my little pagan family members is this: for the Holy Spirit to enlighten their parents and help them accept the gift of Faith, for the mercy of Jesus on these little ones, and that if a tragedy were to befall either one that the Lord would remember that if they were in my care they would be batpized according to His will.
So often parents bring their babies to be baptized in our parish and we never see them again. For them it's a cultural or ethnic rite of passage, an opportunity for some pretty photos and a party and gifts. They are required to attend some classes to learn just exactly what baptism does but for many it's just another hoop to jump through to get what they want. My own parents had me baptized and never followed up with Mass, catechism, etc.
I asked my mom once why she had me baptized. She said the priests said you couldn't go to heaven if you weren't so she thought she better get it done just in case. *sigh* My mom was a really intelligent person so this response...well, I just don't get it. Maybe it was because she grew up in the often superstitious/pray-pay-obey pre-Vat II days.
We can't legislate or force faith so I guess all we can do is give a good example. And pray, hope and don't worry.









