Is faith necessary for adults to be baptized?
The short answer
Yes, but not a fully developed faith. The faith required for baptism is a beginning that is meant to grow; for everyone baptized, child or adult, faith must grow after baptism.
A beginning
Adults must have faith to be baptized, but it need not be mature. The Catechism says the faith baptism requires is not perfect and mature but a beginning called to develop; the catechumen or godparent, asked what he seeks from the Church, answers: "Faith!" (CCC 1253).
Faith must grow
For all the baptized, whether children or adults, faith must grow after baptism (CCC 1254).
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