The telegraph
Romanians demand an end to babies’ immersion in water during baptism after the death of their newborn child
Tens of thousands of Romanians are demanding that the country’s Orthodox Church ban the tradition of putting babies’ heads underwater during baptism after a child drowned during baptism. An online petition has already brought together more than 63,000 names after the February 1 tragedy in the northern city of Suceava. According to reports, the priest completely immersed the six-week-old boy, who was also born premature, during the service, but stopped when the baby stopped crying and started to turn bluish on the lips. Despite being rushed to the hospital, the child died the next day while in the ICU. The police launched a criminal investigation. The child’s death triggered an outbreak of anger in Romania against the Church and caused her to abandon her old tradition of dipping babies three times during her baptism service. Vladimir Dumitru, professor and organizer of the petition, said the tradition often involves brutality and needs to be eliminated. “We do not demand an end to the practice of baptism, but its modification so that babies are not exposed to these unnecessary and absurd risks,” wrote Dumitru on the petition’s page. He added that the immersion should be replaced by a “symbolic spray of water on the baby’s head”. Maria Stamatin, a doctor at the maternity intensive care unit in the city of Iasi in northeastern Romania, warned that even a small amount of water that enters a baby’s lungs can be very dangerous. “Especially when children are newborns, a small amount of water can cause cardiopulmonary arrest and, if there is no rapid intervention, even the baby’s death,” Dr. Stamatin told Libertatea, a Romanian newspaper. In the wake of the tragedy, Vasile Banescu, a spokesman for the Romanian Orthodox Church, called on prosecutors to speed up the investigation of the incident. He also encouraged churches to change their practices, recommending that they sprinkle holy water on babies instead of total immersion. Priests contacted by Libertatea told the newspaper that although many of them preferred to spray water on their heads, they felt pressured by the Church’s hierarchy to conform to tradition and immerse the baby completely three times. Although still widespread in the orthodox world, the popularity of immersion is waning, with more and more parents opting for the safer and less distressing practice of just dipping the baby’s body and spraying water over their head. Concerns arose about the practice of diving babies in other countries with orthodox populations, such as Cyprus and Russia, after videos of children surfacing in total and violently immersed in water, despite screaming in anguish. Traditionalists argue that, despite the dangers of immersion, most children escape this practice unscathed. Archbishop Teodosie Petrescu, an influential clergyman in the conservative wing of the Romanian Orthodox Church, rejected calls for changes in the tradition of baptism. “There is no way for the ritual to change,” said Archbishop Petrescu. “These canons of faith will be available for another thousand years. That’s why we are not going to change. We are not intimidated. ”The archbishop also told the television station Antena3 that he prefers to baptize babies in cold water because it apparently“ sharpens ”their spirituality and is good for their health.