Forced Baptism of Children

There are example of Jews, including children, who were forced to baptize. Generally speaking, however, the church discouraged such practice, although it accepted children "spontaneously" presented to conversion by parents or grandparents.

More controversial was the case in which Jewish children were baptized by Christian neighbors or servants. Starting from the eighteenth century and the pontificate of Benedict XIV (1740-1758), the Church launched very strict rules that paved the way for the removal of "baptized" minors from the natural authority of their parents. The Mortara case, dated 1858, is the most famous example.

These norms had still an impact after the Holocaust. Many of the Jewish children saved by Catholic families or Christian families had been baptized and educated to the Christian religion. Should they be returned to their parents or relatives or even to Jewish organizations in case they were orphans?

In 1946 there was a heated debate about this issue within the Catholic Church. Pious XII in 1946 supported the idea that the Jewish children should not be returned. Other important members of the church supported the opposite view. At the end most of the children were returned, even though in some cases this meant to separate them from the families who had taken care of them and that they considered as their own parents.