Brent King, a spokesman for the Madison Catholic Diocese, has said he does not think the new process will result in fewer baptisms. "Where there is reasonable hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic faith, that child will be baptized," he said. The diocese's full response to questions on the issue can be found here.

In a recent interview with the National Catholic Register, Morlino said the reference in the original memo to priests needing to seek "consultation and coordination" with his office on these baptisms was not an effort to centralize the process and that individual priestly discretion was not being diminished.

As for the petitions being delivered Thursday, King called it "a non-event" and said Morlino will not be present to receive the petitions.

"We've known about their efforts for the past couple of weeks," King said. "Not one person has called our office for any clarification, which we've offered through our public statements."