According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, the sacrament of baptism is administered only to living persons, because it requires accepting the gift of faith and personal commitment to fulfilling the duties resulting from baptism.

However, there are situations when a priest may perform the ritual of baptism over a deceased person. These include situations where the deceased person has already been baptized but due to circumstances the church requirements have not been met, e.g. lack of witnesses or parental participation, or when the deceased person was baptized in another Christian community and their family wants the baptism ritual to be was celebrated in the Catholic rite. In this case, the ritual is understood more as a prayer than the administration of the sacrament.

In any case, the decision to administer the ritual of baptism to a deceased person rests with the priest and must be based on the principles and teachings of the Catholic Church.

Can a deceased person be baptized?