Tens of thousands of people have reportedly signed an online petition for the Romanian Orthodox Church to stop immersing infants in the midst of a growing setback to the death of a baby.
A six-week-old man had a cardiac arrest on Monday after he submerged his head three times during the baptism in Suceava, Romania, and died hours later in a hospital, reports Agence France Presse. An autopsy revealed water in the baby’s lungs.
A men’s inquiry was opened into the priest who performed the ceremony.
“The death of a newborn baby as a result of this practice is a great tragedy,” wrote someone who signed the petition, which had more than 56,000 signatures on Thursday night. “This risk must be ruled out for the joy of baptism to triumph.”
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A photo taken on May 11, 2014, shows a Romanian Orthodox priest sinking a child in holy water at a church in Bucharest. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP via Getty Images)
Local media have reported similar incidents in recent years, reports AFP.
Others call the ritual ‘cruel’ and accuse those who believe that immersion is the ‘will of God’ of ‘stubbornness’.
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Church spokeswoman Vasile Banescu suggested that priests could rather pour or sprinkle water over the baby’s forehead, which is commonly used, but Archbishop Theodosia, who leads the traditional wing, refused to change the ritual, reports AFP .