It is "the gateway to life in the Spirit" and "signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit".

The transformation is a replacement of one element by another: "The death of fire is the birth of air, and the death of air is the birth of water."

Section 1215 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "This sacrament [baptism] is also called 'the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,' for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one 'can enter the kingdom of God.'"