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'' (Χρι ...

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

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 sac ...

. 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 via ...

, 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 Britain ...

, and

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

. 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. ...

, 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 created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

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 and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as confirm ...

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 Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

is "very common" within the

independent sacramental movement The independent sacramental movement (ISM) refers to a loose collection of individuals and Christian denominations which are not part of the historic sacramental Christian denominations embodying catholicity (such as the Catholic Church, Eastern Ort ...

(ISM). The practice of receiving conditional consecration is either performed by ISM bishops who want to receive as many lines of

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

of various origins as possible, or by ISM clergy who doubt the validity of their holy order and "want to avoid any questioning".

References