Father Andres Arango, a Catholic priest from Arizona, US resigned after he realised that he performed thousands of baptisms wrong.
Instead of saying 'I baptise you,' which invokes God's power, as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requires, Arango said 'we baptise you,' which refers to the community. All of Arango's baptisms from the time he was ordained in 1995 until June 2021 were annulled because he used the incorrect language. The church stated that the number of invalid baptisms is in the thousands.
The Vatican issued a doctoral note in 2020, stating that Baptisms conferred using the statement, 'We baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit,' were invalid. Meaning, thousands in Father Arango's community will need to undergo the communion once more.
Church leaders at The Roman Catholic Diocese investigated its faith leaders after the note was issued. It was found last month that Father Arango had incorrectly performed the baptisms, including at his previous parishes in Brazil and San Diego. Father Arango will now provide spiritual guidance to Catholics whose baptisms were ruled invalid and baptise them again.
