We receive many requests from parents hoping to have a child baptized. Unfortunately, parents are finding it difficult to find godparents for their child once they find out what it takes to be a godparent.
It is required by universal law that there be at least one godparent. Sometimes parents want to select a Jewish or a Muslim friend to be godparents, as someone once told me “we thought it would be nice and inclusive”. Once, parents told me the people they had selected had no religion at all, “but they are really good people."
I want parents to take note: YOU ARE HAVING YOUR CHILD BAPTIZED CATHOLIC. Being a godparent is not a ceremonial function, or something you offer to someone because they are a good friend or of high moral character or someone you would want to raise your child if you were to leave this earth early. The godparent/sponsor needs to be a model and witness for the Catholic faith.
Canon law is clear: #874 To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:
1. Be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in the absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2. Have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has declared another age;
3. Be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4. Not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5. Not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized. A baptized person who is not Catholic cannot participate except together with a Catholic godparent and then only as a witness of the baptism.
This leads me to another interesting challenge that crops up more often than it should: a lot of people just don’t know Catholics. They may be new to the area. They may not have relatives they are close to, or they have relatives who are no longer practicing Catholics. They may not have any friends who they know to be Catholic. I always think this is somewhat troubling since I find it of great importance that we associate with others who share our beliefs and values, and I think it would also be important that we would desire our children to be around these good Catholics as well.
Once, not so long ago, people lived with the church and the parish as the center of their world, and everyone knew a lot of people who were Catholic. You grew up with them, saw them every Sunday, socialized with them, went to school with them, lived around them, and married them. That just doesn’t happen anymore.
God bless,