If you are seeking baptism for your child who is younger than age 7, please contact Eileen Kutchak, ekutchak@straphaels.org to register in the parish and to attend the class. If you want the baptism to be in Spanish, please contact Juana Amaya at 240-899-2788 or Luisa Duarte at 240-864-2565.
If you are seeking baptism for your child who is age 7-18, you will be enrolling him/her in the OCIA Adapted for Children program, a journey which typically lasts at least two years. Please contact Religious Education: Director Mary Beaudoin 202-294-7697.
If you are seeking baptism for yourself, you will be enrolling in the OCIA program. Please contact Linda Poindexter 240-864-2542 and leave a message. For OCIA in Spanish (RICA), please contact Luis and Maruja Quezada at 301-330-5982.
If you are a St. Raphael’s parishioner who has been asked to serve as a godparent, please download and complete a godparent eligibility form (available here) and return it to Eileen Kutchak at the parish office for forwarding to the parish of baptism. Godparents must be practicing Catholics, who have received all three sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist) and living a life consistent with the Catholic faith. This includes either being married in the Catholic Church or living as a single person. An Orthodox Christian also may serve as a godparent in certain cases. Other baptized Christians cannot be godparents, but may participate as a Christian witness. Unbaptized persons cannot serve as godparents or Christian witnesses, but are warmly welcome at baptisms.