Last week a woman asked me if a step parent could be a sponsor for for her child's Confirmation. I told her that I would find out and let her know. Could you help me out, or point me in the right diection? Thanks.

-- Kathleen White (kathywhite@juno.com), September 29, 2003

Answers

Hello, Kathleen.
The 1983 Code of Canon Law says that a sponsor may "not be either the father or the mother of the person to be baptized" or confirmed.

Since a stepparent assumes at least part of the role of a "father" or a "mother," I think that he/she could not be a sponsor.

However, I do not have the right or training to claim to be able to give you an autoritative answer. That should come from a priest or bishop. Is there some reason that your friend asked you, rather than the pastor of the church wherein the Confirmation will take place?

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 29, 2003.

Hi JFG,

I thought many dioceses had Canon Lawers and specialists who weren't necessarily clergy. Come to think of it, one student of Canon Law at my school said she's studying because she feels the Vatican grants anullments too easily--such as that of her own parents. But I saw many lay students of canon law at the one class I went to. I'm sure each Diocese office keeps an index of local experts.

-- Skoobouy (skoobouy@hotmail.com), September 29, 2003.

Oh, I never got to the point--True, every priest studies Canon Law, but you're not gauranteed to get a very accurate answer from a rank- and-file Father. Best to find someone who the Diocese sent specifically to become an expert.

At the same time, sometimes it's the relatively inexerperienced students who have enough humility not to try and "reinterpret" what Canon Law says.

-- Skoobouy (skoobouy@hotmail.com), September 29, 2003.

my step mom is my godmother, i dont see why it makes a difference...

-- paul (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), September 29, 2003.

Jmj

Hello, Skoobouy.
I agree with you. I rushed that reply to Kathleen, leaving out one important thing and not clearly explaining another.

It is true that a member of the laity can obtain a Canon Law degree and would be qualified to give reliable advice on questions like this. I should not have implied that "an autoritative answer ... should come [only] from a priest or bishop."

When I wrote those words, though, I didn't mean to imply that every priest and bishop is an expert in Canon Law. What I had in mind is that a parist priest who lacks the needed training would have a duty to consult with a Canon Lawyer on behalf of his parishioner who asks a tough question.

Paul, I don't understand your comment -- that you "don't see why it makes a difference." (I don't know what is your antecedent for the word "it.") Can you explain, please?
You saw the quotation I gave from Canon Law, which may mean that what happened in your case was illicit -- but it certainly had no negative effect on the validity of the sacrament.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 29, 2003.

john,

Paul, I don't understand your comment -- that you "don't see why it makes a difference." (I don't know what is your antecedent for the word "it.") Can you explain, please?

it refers to my step mother being my god mother as well. i dont see how her being such makes a difference because i dont markedly think of her as one of my parents, and i was old enough by the time my dad remarried that i never depended on her in the way a child does their mother, so she was in a good place to be a godmother to me. i dont see how a parent not being allowed would effect a step parent being allowed to be a godparent

-- paul (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), September 30, 2003.

Thanks, paul.
I guess I was picturing that very large number of stepparents who are unlike your stepmother, in that they join a family when the children are very small. Such stepparents (and adoptive parents) are, in certain respects, not distinguishable from biological parents, especially when those they have "replaced" have passed away. [I grant that your case is quite different.]

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 30, 2003.

My parents were my sponsors for Confirmation.

-- jake (jake1REMOVE@pngusa.net), October 01, 2003.