A conditional sacrament or sacrament ''sub conditione'' ("under condition") is in some

Christian denominations Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

a sacrament administered "on the condition that the faithful eceiving it isable and legitimately entitled to receive the sacrament". An example of conditional sacrament is

conditional baptism Mainline Christian theology (including Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Anglican, Lutheran and most other Protestants) has traditionally held that only one baptism is valid to confer the benefits of this s ...

. Conditional sacraments are practised by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

, the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, and

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

. Conditional sacraments are usually performed when there is doubt the previous sacrament(s) was (were) performed or valid, as receiving some specific sacraments more than once is considered impossible in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Catholic Church

If there is doubt concerning the ability of a person to receive any sacrament, the sacrament can be administered conditionally, whether the person is supposed to have already received said sacrament or not. In the

, the sacraments which, due to their

sacramental character According to some Christian denominations, a sacramental character is an indelible spiritual ''mark'' (the meaning of the word ''character'' in Latin) imprinted by any of three of the seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, and holy orders. H ...

, cannot be repeated and can conditionally administered are "the sacraments of

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an wikt:affirmation, affirma ...

and order". It is a custom in the Catholic Church to express the conditionality of the sacrament of the conditional sacrament, either audibly or mentally. For example, the person performing the ritual will add the condition "if you are capable" to the sacrament's formula; or in the case of a conditional baptism, the person performing the ritual will add "If you are not baptised" before conferring the conditional baptism. Indeed, it is not necessary to express verbally the conditionality. However, the conditionality "should be expressed audibly when reasons for doubt about the condition of the subject are public. The purpose of the condition is to avoid scandal or confusion in the faithful and, out of reverence for the sacraments, to avoid subjecting them to the possibility of invalidity".

Eastern Orthodox Church

In the

, sacraments which cannot be repeated and can conditionally administered include

and

chrismation Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members world ...

Church of England

In the

, sacraments which cannot be repeated and can conditionally administered include baptism.

Methodist Churches

, baptisms are conditionally administered in cases of doubt concerning their validity.

Independent sacramental movement

According to the Utrecht Old Catholic priest Bernard Vignot, conditional consecration is "very common" within the independent sacramental movement (ISM). The practice of receiving conditional consecration is either performed by ISM bishops who want to receive as many lines of apostolic succession of various origins as possible, or by ISM clergy who doubt the validity of their holy order and "want to avoid any questioning".

References