HOLY MOLY

Michigan Priest Was Improperly Baptized—and It’s a Can of Worms

Now the church is trying to notify Catholics who received some sacraments from him.

A Michigan priest got the surprise of his life when he learned that he was improperly baptized as a child. It was a seemingly small mistake: The deacon said “we baptize” instead of “I baptize” when conferring the sacrament. But that mixup means that the Rev. Matthew Hood of Dearborn should never have been ordained as a priest—and was not entitled to confer some sacraments on anyone else, The Detroit News reports. Now church officials are scrambling to notify Catholics who made certain sacraments with Hood that they may need to come in for a do-over. And it appears Hood is not the only victim of imprecise language: The deacon used the wrong words from 1986 to 1999.

Editor’s note: This has been updated to reflect that baptisms performed by Rev. Hood are not affected, but other sacraments may be.