A Phoenix priest has resigned from his parish after he was found to have performed thousands of baptisms incorrectly throughout his career. According to reports, all the baptisms done by the priest who goes by the name Reverend Andres Arango has been declared invalid by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix in a letter last month.
"It is with sincere pastoral concern that I inform the faithful that baptisms performed by Reverend Andres Arango, a priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, are invalid," the official letter read.
It has been reported that church pastor Andres Arango of Phoenix's St. Gregory Catholic Church said "We baptize you, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" instead of saying "I baptize you" during the ceremonies.
The letter further highlighted, "It is not the community that baptizes a person and incorporates them into the Church of Christ; rather, it is Christ, and Christ alone, who presides at all sacraments; therefore, it is Christ who baptizes."
"If you were baptized using the wrong words, that means your baptism is invalid, and you are not baptized," it further read.
Who is Reverend Andres Arango?
Reverend Andres Arango is a priest who used the wrong word to baptize people since the beginning of his career as a priest in 1995.
Moreover, the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has recently announced that it has become determined after carefully studying that Rev. Andres Arango had used the incorrect wording in baptism ceremonies performed up until June 17, 2021.
