I am a lifelong Catholic and father to a boy baptized in the Catholic Church. My wife is also Catholic. She is confirmed. I, for extenuating reasons, am not. However, I was married in the Church, had first Eucharist as a boy, and my son is baptized. Now that my sister has a baby, she asked me to be godfather. Her priest told her I couldn't be because I was not confirmed. Is this Church law or is it left to the discretion of the priest? I know many godparents of Catholic children who themselves are not Catholic.

-- tony torti (tony.torti@metavante.com), May 16, 2001

Answers

Jmj

Hello, Tony.
The priest is doing the right thing, because he is following the Church's regulations, known as the Code of Canon Law, which must not be broken. The matter is not left to the priest's discretion.

Before continuing, I want to mention that the term "godparent" (godfather/godmother) is an informal word, while the Church's formal word is "sponsor."
Here is the actual "canon" that explains matters:

------------------ QUOTE --------------------
Canon 874
..... §1 To be admitted to undertake the office of sponsor, a person must:
.......... 1° be appointed by the candidate for Baptism, or by the parents or whoever stands in their place, or failing these, by the parish priest or the minister; to be appointed the person must be suitable for this role and have the intention of fulfilling it;
.......... 2° be not less than sixteen years of age, unless a different age has been stipulated by the diocesan bishop, or unless the parish priest or the minister considers that there is a just reason for an exception to be made;
.......... 3° be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has received the blessed Eucharist, and who lives a life of faith which befits the role to be undertaken;
.......... 4° not labor under a canonical penalty, whether imposed or declared;
.......... 5° not be either the father or the mother of the person to be baptised.
..... §2 A baptised person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community may be admitted only in company with a Catholic sponsor, and then simply as a witness to the baptism.
---------------------- UNQUOTE -------------------

So you can see that it is necessary that you be confirmed. I would say that undoubtedly this occurrence in your is a way that God is asking you to prepare yourself for the Sacrament of Confirmation. It is a beautiful one that you truly need, to strengthen you as a "soldier of Christ," making you more ready for spiritual warfare and evangelization in this distressed world of ours.
Please notice also that the non-Catholics whom you called "godparents" of Catholic children are not actually "sponsors" of those kids, but "Christian witnesses" of the Baptism. Actual sponsors (Catholics) have duties and privileges that non-sponsoring witnesses do not have.

God bless you.
John

-- (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), May 16, 2001.