Can a priest make water holy by his will alone in necessity, or must it be properly blessed?
Robert Sungenis answers that the Church has a formula the priest must follow, so intention alone will not make water holy. He notes this is rarely a problem, since a priest able to think of blessing water can make the sign of the cross and say the words, and holds the water keeps its holiness wherever it goes, because an inanimate object can carry God's grace.
A viewer asks whether water can be made holy by the volition of the priest in a case of necessity for holy water, or whether it must be properly blessed.
Answer
The Church has a certain formula the priest has to follow. If you mean just mental gymnastics to make the water holy, the answer is no. But that is never really a problem, because if a priest has the capacity even to think about making water holy, he can surely make the sign of the cross and say the words required to make it holy. And wherever that water goes, it retains its holiness; this is the Catholic concept that an inanimate object can contain and carry God's grace, so that transporting holy water is transporting God's grace. It is an interesting concept, but it is true.