Tens of thousands of people have reportedly signed an online petition for the Orthodox Church in Romania to stop dipping babies underwater during baptism amid a growing backlash following the death of a baby.
A six-week-old child went into cardiac arrest on Monday after submerging his head three times during baptism in Suceava, Romania, and died hours later in a hospital, Agence France Presse reported. An autopsy revealed water in the baby’s lungs.
A homicide investigation has been launched against the priest who performed the ceremony.
“The death of a newborn baby as a result of this practice is a huge tragedy,” wrote one who signed the petition, which had more than 56,000 signatures on Thursday night. “This risk must be eliminated if the joy of baptism is to be triumphant.”
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A photo taken on May 11, 2014 shows a Romanian Orthodox priest sinking a child in holy water while being baptized in a church in Bucharest. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP via Getty Images)
Local media has reported similar incidents in recent years, AFP reported.
Others called the ritual “brutal” and accused those who believe that immersion is the “will of God” of “stubbornness.”
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Church spokesman Vasile Banescu suggested that priests could instead pour or sprinkle water over the baby’s forehead, which is common around the world, but Archbishop Teodosie, who leads the traditionalist wing, refused to change the ritual, AFP reported.