Question 1 - Validity of Baptism
Father, I just joined Tradition, is my baptism valid?
If you were baptized in the Novus Ordo, there is no reason to believe that your baptism is not valid. Unless you have a serious reason to believe that your particular baptism is doubtful (in which case, speak with the priest), you should not worry about that. The Novus Ordo, although departing in many ways from Catholicism, has kept an intention that is sufficiently close to the intention of the Church not to doubt the validity of their baptism. This is the common estimation of Traditional Catholics. You will always find someone who is smarter than others, but this estimation is shared quasi unanimously by Traditional Catholics.
If you were baptized in a protestant sect, the priest will investigate your baptism, and if he comes to the conclusion your baptism was invalid or doubtful, he will give you a conditional baptism. This was the practice of the Church prior to Vatican II. Even though you spent many years in the Novus Ordo without having been conditionally baptized, this investigation and eventually this conditional baptism should still take place. You have to understand that the Novus Ordo world is more concerned about the progress of oecumenism (union of all «Christians») than about the validity of your personal baptism. It does not fit modern oecumenism to doubt the validity of protestant baptism.
