The Catholic Church affirms Matthew 28:19 as establishing the Trinitarian baptismal formula as the normative form for Christian baptism. The phrase 'in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' is interpreted as expressing the trinitarian nature of Christian baptism and the invocation of the three divine persons. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§§ 1234-1245) teaches that this formula is essential to valid baptism, though allowance is made in emergency circumstances for baptism with water and the invocation of Christ's name.

Catholic tradition, rooted in the Didache (1st century), the Apostolic Constitutions, and patristic sources, maintains the Trinitarian formula as the standard practice. The Council of Elvira (c. 305) and subsequent councils affirmed this formula. Modern Catholic documents, including Vatican II's Sacrosanctum Concilium, reaffirm the Trinitarian formula and the necessity of invoking all three persons of the Trinity for valid baptism.