Infant Baptisms

The Catholic Chaplaincy oversees the process of infant baptisms. Georgetown University students, faculty, staff, and alumni may have their infants baptized in one of our sacred spaces. Typically, baptisms occur in either Dahlgren Chapel or Copley Crypt Chapel. The protocol is as follows:

1. Visit our online calendar, Available Baptism Timeslots, to check availability. Typically baptisms occur on Sunday mornings and afternoons. Avoid asking for a baptism during a week day. The Chapels are closed for baptisms on Easter Weekend, Commencement Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, Reunion Weekend, New Student Orientation (last weekend in August), Labor Day Weekend, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. One baptism occurs per timeslot, however, campus ministry reserves the right to hold communal baptism services.
2. Contact the Sacraments Office, sacraments@georgetown.edu or 202-687-6880, to reserve a chapel. 
3. Contact a priest or deacon to baptize your child. The minister must have faculties within the Archdiocese of Washington.
4. If this is your first child for baptism, then enroll in a baptismal class for parents at your local parish or at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
5. Arrange for at least one Catholic godparent and fill out the Baptismal Information Form from the link we provide. We use this information to create a baptismal certificate, to register the baptism at Holy Trinity Church, and to acquire a sacristan to setup the chapel for your child’s baptism.
6. Charitable gifts in honor of your child’s baptism may be made payable to Campus Ministry Georgetown University. An offering of $100-$150 is appreciated to reduce our expenses for a sacristan, supplies, and chapel use.
7. Customarily, parents provide the priest or deacon with a minimum stipend of $125, made payable directly to the priest or deacon.