The answer
The bishop himself examines them immediately before baptism. It was mentioned in the Apostolic Tradition of St. Hippolytus: “When those who are to receive baptism are chosen their lives should be examined; whether they lived uprightly as catechumens, whether they honored the widows, whether they visited the sick, whether they were thorough in performing good works.”1329 The examination does not check the behavioral side only but also the sincerity of his faith. Origen describes the level of stringency with which a catechumen should be examined, however they may have come to accept the faith, so that no one should be baptized without confirming the sincerity of his intentions.1330 St. Cyril of Jerusalem compares this examination of the catechumens to soldiers who are enrolled in the army ready to fight the devil.1331
Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty
Notes
1329 Hippolytus of Rome, On the Apostolic Tradition 20 (PP 22:105–106).
1330 Origen, Against Celsus 3.51 (ANF 4:484–485).
1331 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 1.3, 3.3, 4.36, 21.24 (NPNF II/7).