Catholics baptize infants because this practice is scripturally sound and has been handed down to us through Sacred Tradition. Historically, the practice of Infant Baptism was not contested until the Anabaptists did so in the 16th century, in opposition to the leaders of mainline Protestantism. The truth is, there is neither an explicit command in the Bible to baptize children, nor a prohibition against it. In fact, that the Bible shows John the Baptist receiving the Holy Spirit from within his mother's womb makes the sanctification of infants a biblical concept (Luke 1:15, 41; cf. Judg. 16:17; Ps. 22:10; Jer. 1:5). There is additional evidence in the Bible as well that children ought to be baptized. In the Gospels, for instance, we see mothers bringing their small children, and "even infants," as Saint Luke specifies, to the Lord for Him to lay His hands upon them. When the disciples intervene, Jesus rebukes them, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (Luke 18:15-17). Instructing the crowd at Pentecost to be baptized, Peter declares, "For the promise is to you and to your children" (Acts 2:39). Paul identifies Baptism as the fulfillment of circumcision, a rite performed on infants (Col. 2:11-12). Finally, there are instances in Scripture in which entire households, likely including small children and infants, are baptized (see Acts 16:15, 32-33, et al.).
That infants are unable to request Baptism for themselves is not a strong argument against their being baptized. After all, no one can come to God on his own initiative, but only by divine grace. Infants are upheld in Baptism, not by their own faith, but by the vicarious faith of their parents/guardians and the Church, similar to Jairus' daughter who was brought back from the dead by the faith of her father (Matt. 9:25; cf. 11:44; Acts 9:40). If the gift of natural life may be restored in this way, why not the gift of supernatural life? The babe carried to the baptismal font resembles the paralytic in Matthew 9:2, carried by others into the presence of the Lord. In fact, nothing so perfectly illustrates the individual's total dependence on the grace of God in obtaining salvation as Infant Baptism, the child being utterly incapable of requesting the sacrament by his own volition (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1250). As the child comes to maturity and his ability to serve God increases, he is required to personally profess his belief in Christ, ordinarily in the sacrament of Confirmation.
To say that infants and young children have no need for Baptism is in effect to say they have no need to be saved—no need, that is, of a Savior! While children below the age of reason are incapable of committing actual sins, they are conceived and born with the guilt of original sin on their soul (cf. Ps. 51:7; Rom. 5:18-19), which must be washed away in Baptism. The Church's teaching on original sin has led her critics to assume she teaches infants who die without Baptism are condemned to hell. It is true that some Catholic theologians have theorized about this through the ages, this notion has never been accepted as official Church doctrine and is not today. In fact, the Catechism states, "Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children ... allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism" (par. 1261).
Read more about Baptism in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Early Church Writings on Baptism.
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