Pope baptizes 10 infants, urges parents to lead them on path of truth

Published: 2006-01-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Continuing one of his predecessor's favorite traditions, Pope Benedict XVI baptized 10 babies and urged their parents to lead them along the path of truth. In an extemporaneous sermon during a Jan. 8 Mass, the pope said baptism today carries with it the responsibility to fight against "the largely dominant culture of death" -- a culture, he said, that is marked by injustice, self-delusion and sexual irresponsibility. The hour-and-a-half-long Mass in the Sistine Chapel was enlivened by the frequent cries of the infants chosen for the papal liturgy. Beneath Michelangelo's famous frescoes of the creation, mothers used pacifiers and rhythmic rocking to try to keep their babies quiet. The pope, standing next to a large marble font, poured water from a golden dipper over the head of each baby as he pronounced the words of baptism. The five girls and five boys were children or grandchildren of Vatican employees.

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