Like in Arizona, botched baptisms roiled Michigan church

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of Arizona Catholics recently learned they may have been improperly baptized with the wrong words. In Michigan, a separate but similar controversy has been ongoing since 2020. For years, a deacon at St. Anastasia Church in suburban Detroit used the words “we baptize” instead of “I baptize.” The Vatican says that phrase makes the sacrament invalid. The Detroit Archdiocese says it found about 200 baptisms were done properly, and 71 people so far have been baptized again. But 455 people haven’t responded. One person who was affected was a priest, the Rev. Matthew Hood. He was quickly baptized and ordained again as a priest in 2020.