I wanted to baptize my 7 year old son, but our priest said he couln't do so because both godparents needed to be practicing catholics. I wanted my 22 year old son to be the godfather, as I feel he would be a good rolemodle to help My 7 year old be a good christian, and live a good christian life. We also had a godmother in mind that also had our christian values, but she only occasionally goes to church. The priest suggested we pick a couple out of the catholic church we go to that are regular church goers, but I feel strongly that I have godparents of my choosing, as I have my son's best interest at heart in regards to his christian upbringing. I have a real strong faith that comes from the deepest part of my being and I feel very competent to choose my son's godparents. Thankyou Jane Marx

-- jane a. marx (jane.a.marx@valley .net), January 04, 2001

Answers

Response to do godparents have to be practicing catholics?

Canon Law requires that there be at least one Catholic godparent in good standing with the church. (except in the case of emergency Baptism) They must meet certain requirements stated in Canon Law. There can be two one male and one female if you wish. The second person can be a "Christian witness" instead of a godparent. This Christian Witness can be from another Christian Faith and must have a letter from their pastor stating that they are members in good standing in their Christian community.

-- Br. Rich SFO (repsfo@prodigy.net), January 04, 2001.

Response to do godparents have to be practicing catholics?

the reason for this is that should anything happen to orphan the child, it is the godparents' duty to raise the child to be a good, knowledgable Catholic. If they do not fit that discription themselves, they cannot teach others. They may be a fine person, or even a good Christian, but can they raise the child Catholic?

In years gone by (I don't know if this is still the case), if a Catholic wanted to marry a non-Catholic, the couple had to sign an agreement to raise any resulting children as Catholic. Think of the godparent requirement as being in the same family of rules.

-- anthony (antaine@aol.com), January 18, 2001.

Response to do godparents have to be practicing catholics?

These days, Anthony, according to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the Catholic spouse must promise to do everything in his/her power to raise the child(ren) as Catholic(s), while the non-Catholic spouse is simply informed of the Catholic's promise. [Of course, the fact that this will happen is not a surprise sprung on anyone, but should be discussed early in the marriage preparation period -- so that it is done freely, or so that the couple can decide to break up if the situation would be the source of strife.]

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), January 18, 2001.