4 Faiths Share Baptism Rite in Show of Unity

The baptism of four children by Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran and Armenian church bishops in one religious service Sunday in Sacramento was hailed as a milestone in Christian ecumenical annals.

The churchmen, who used rites of their own traditions, were Bishop Francis Quinn, of the Sacramento Roman Catholic Diocese; Los Angeles-based Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian, Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of North America; Bishop Lyle Miller, Northern California-Northern Nevada Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Bishop John Thompson, Episcopal Diocese of Northern California.

“Here on this special day we are one family, part of the extended family of all believers,” said Kathleen Segerhammer Hurty, the homilist and an ecumenical officer with the National Council of Churches.

The 90-minute ceremony at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Sacrament was protested by several dozen people outside who called themselves Prenatal Murder Opponents. They objected to Catholic participation in a service with clergy of denominations that “have taken an official pro-abortion stand.”