Hello! I am an ex-Baptist who is in the process of converting to Catholicism. I am going through RCIA right now, and my question is this: does a person always have to have a sponsor to be confirmed in the Catholic Church? The reason I ask is because my family and friends are all Protestants, and I can't think of anyone who is a faithful, practicing Catholic that I could ask to be my sponsor. What happens if a person meets all the requirements, yet doesn't have a sponsor? I can't wait to join the Church this Easter, and I need help with this ASAP. Thank you very much!

-- Lauren (lauren2035@yahoo.com), March 21, 2004

Answers

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-- Lauren (lauren2035@yahoo.com), March 21, 2004.

Hi Lauren, you asked, “What happens if a person meets all the requirements, yet doesn't have a sponsor?” The answer is very simple, he/she doesn’t get in. I am just kidding of course.

This problem comes up all the time. Your sponsor does have to be a confirmed Catholic in good standing. Contact your priest in this matter and he will be able to help you. A sponsor will be found for you if necessary. Welcome to this forum and more importantly - Welcome to the Faith!!!

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 21, 2004.

Hi Lauren,

I teach RCIA classes, and we frequently have people who are in need of a sponsor. Your RCIA teachers should be able to introduce you to a member of the parish who will be happy to serve as your sponsor. Or, in some cases a member of the RCIA team might do so.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), March 21, 2004.

Lauren, I am excited to hear about your conversion! What led you to the Catholic Church, if you don't mind my asking? For me, the first issue was a need for an authority to confirm the contents of the Bible. Otherwise, important stuff could've been lost, or anybody could've written anything. Now, after much study and discussion, I can see all kinds of problems with Protestantism. In fact, I concluded that if the Catholic Church is not the one true Church, then Christianity must be wrong. But I know from my life and history that Christianity is true.

I am still officially Protestant, and hoping to enroll in RCIA next fall. I would've liked to take it over the summer, but they don't seem to offer it in my area in the summer. I'm sure it must be difficult for you, with all your family and friends being Protestant, and especially Baptist! In my experience, some Baptists are the most anti-Catholic types of all. My friends are almost all Protestant, but I do have a number of Catholic relatives who will support me. I will pray for your situation.

God bless!

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), March 21, 2004.

Lauren, I just want to say that I too, am an ex Baptist, and I am joining the Church at EAster! I think there will definitely be someone in your parish who'd be more than happy to be your sponser. In my situation, I got one of my fellow teachers (I teach in a Catholic school) to be mine. Good luck!

-- Rhonda (rhowilli@ipa.net), March 21, 2004.

Emily- Thanks so much for the support and prayers! :) To answer your question, I was originally drawn to the Catholic Church as a result of my study of history. I took a college course that dealt with the Reformation era, and that left me with lots of questions. After all that I learned about the different Reformers, such as their political motivations and pasts, I began to doubt the validity of some of the doctrines of various Protestant churches. In my mind, there were no real justifications (on the part of the Reformers) for throwing away doctrines and practices that had been universal for centuries. Also, the fact that the Catholic Church has remained constant, doesn't change what it believes, and remains uniformed really impressed me (I always wondered why I could go to two Baptist churches in my own town and they could be so drastically different!). During this time, I pretty much just prayed and read as much as I could about Catholicism. It wasn't long after that I became convinced that the Catholic Church was the one, true church, and knew that I should convert. Like I said, I'm in RCIA right now and can't wait for Easter! Thanks for your post and I hope everything goes well for you with your conversion process. I will remember you also in my prayers. Best of luck!

-- Lauren (lauren2035@yahoo.com), March 21, 2004.

Hi Lauren,

Well done. May God be with you and Our Blessed Mother guard and guide you always. My husband is Baptist and he attends Holy Mass at the catholic church and also has great devotion to Our Blessed Mother andsays the Rosary with us. So welcome home Lauren. May God Bless, Ramanie

-- Ramanie Weerasinghe (lilanw@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.

There is a great joke. What do you call an intellectually honest Baptist? And the answer is: a Catholic. Of course, I'm not saying Baptists aren't good people. They are. And their oratorical skills usually far surpass Catholic priests. But when you get into Doctrine and history, there is no comparison.

A great story of a Baptist's conversion is "An American Conversion" by Deal Hudson, the publisher of Crisis Magazine. Very good stuff. I just read it.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), March 22, 2004.

Hey Emily,

It would be a shame to wait a whole year to be recieved into the Church. RCIA is the 'normative' way of entering the Church, but it is not the only way. You always sound so on fire for the faith that it may be possible that you could enter earlier than next Easter. There are many possibilities. I suggest you talk to a preist you feel comfortable with. I worked in a Parish once and I found that sometimes people get really protective of 'their stuff'. Our pastoral assitant in charge of RCIA was always a kind of 'my RCIA or the highway' kind of lady. A preist may be more likely to respond positively to your desire to accelerate the process.

On the otherhand, when RCIA is done well, it is a real gift to the catachumen (sp).

Just a thought,

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.

James, I fear you may be mistaken. You may have misunderstood your parish during instructions on how to choose a sponsor. Why would anyone look for "ways around" canon law? This doens't seem to be the ideal way to get started on a faith journey.

Sponsors have to submit a certificate of eligibility completed by their pastor before they can stand. They must be Catholics in good standing. I know of no way around this. In some sacraments a non-Catholic "witness" is permitted to stand but only along side at least one Catholic sponsor.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 22, 2004.

Here's a brief summary of the requirements for confirmation.

You may receive the Sacrament of Confirmation without a sponsor if you are in danger of imminent death, for example in the case of a premature newborn child. If this is not the case you should have a practising Catholic over the age of 16 years. Because of the links of the Sacrament of Baptism to the Sacrament of Confirmation it's recommended that the baptismal godparent is the confirmation sponsor wherever possible. You may also be confirmed without the use of a saint's name.

The bishop is the ordinary of the Sacrament of Confirmation. However, he may give the faculty to the parish priest, or to any priest designated by him to confer the sacrament.

God bless

Sara

-- Sara (sara_catholic_forum@yahoo.co.uk), March 22, 2004.

Dan said: It would be a shame to wait a whole year to be recieved into the Church.

I know, and I would love to join now - I long for the day. However, I am still in college and there are many complications in my immediate family regarding Catholicism. So that will make it difficult. Preferably, I would like to find an RCIA program that I could do over the summer, since I will begin graduate school in the fall. But who knows what plans the Lord has?

Dan, thanks for the compliment. But while my Protestant upbringing gave me an excellent knowledge of the Bible and a fair knowledge of Reformation history, I don't think that's anywhere sufficient. After all, there are almost 2,000 years of Church history to catch up on!!! lol

RCIA teachers,

Could someone give me a sample outline of what RCIA covers? I have no idea whether I've already learned a lot of this stuff in my reading or what? Also, do they offer it over the internet in the summer?

Thanks & God bless,

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.

P.S. I heard something about there being an accelerated process for Episcopalians? I am not a member, but I have been faithfully attending an Episcopal church for 4 semesters now while at college (since Spring 2002). I wonder if that counts for anything?

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.

Emily-

Obviously I'm not an RCIA teacher, but I thought I'd respond and share my experiences since no one else has replied to you yet. In my parish, RCIA is a 15 week course that meets every Sunday night for about an hour and a half. The first few weeks were an introduction to Christianity of sorts, with classes titled such things as "History of God's Contact with the Human Race" and "Jesus Christ- His Personality and His Life." After the basic tenets of Christianity had all been discussed, our sessions began to center around Catholicism and the Church. That began with a class entitled "History of the Catholic Church from the Days of St. Peter to Our Own Day," and we have had several classes on certain topics such as "The Role of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Other Saints in Our Prayer Life" and "The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist."

All of these classes have been greatly informative, and overall, my RCIA experience has helped me in learning the faith. I wish you luck in finding an RCIA program in your area. You'll be glad you did!

-- Lauren (lauren2035@yahoo.com), March 23, 2004.

Emily, I know of no fast-track for Episcopalians. They have to do it the old-fashioned way, they have to earn it. :-)

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 23, 2004.

Ed

I am aware of the requirements of Canon law; however it is not our deposit of faith ie, it may be dispensed with by an appropriate authority in certain situations; where is the value in someone having somebody as their sponsor who will serve no purpose except being present at a ceremony? Consideration must be given to this.

-- James (james@internet.com), March 24, 2004.

James, I was under the impression the requirement for a sponsor would only be waived in dire circumstances, as in the case of imminent death as Sara has stated. Not knowing any Catholics, has never been sufficient reason to my knowledge for not having a sponsor. That is why there are certain individuals in the parish, (RCIA personnel etc.)who are schooled in the faith and are prepared to volunteer in circumstances such as these. It is not enough that sponsors be moral and upright. They must be moral and upright Catholics. Their role is not to guide the confirmed to a moral and upright life, but to guide the confirmed to a moral and upright Catholic life. They are to demonstrate, inform and teach the tenets of the Catholic faith. What knowledge does a non-Catholic have of the Catholic Faith in staniding in as a sponsor? Parishes rightly have surmised that even a stranger, who is schooled in the faith in the parish, who has agreed to assist in these circumstances, will be more effective than any well-intentioned moral and upright non-Catholic.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 24, 2004.

James,

A priest cannot dispense with the need for a Confirmation Sponsor to be a practising Catholic. It's simply not something that's negotiable. There are strict rules governing the sacraments. Priests cannot simply change them according to an individual's wishes. If he does so and it's brought to the attention of his bishop, I'm sure he would be brought to task over this.

If he does this for your child, I would suggest that it's entirely possible that the Sacrament won't be valid. I'm sure you don't wish that for your child.

Perhaps you ought to phone your Curial Office and ascertain the eligibility of a non-Catholic becoming sponsor. I doubt you will get the answer you want to hear, but at least you will know that things have been carried out in the correct manner for your child.

May God bless you both

Sara

-- Sara (sara_catholic_forum@yahoo.co.uk), March 24, 2004.

James, in re-reading your post I noticed your comment about the sponsor attending the ceremony only and not playing a role in the confirmed's life. I can assure you the sponsors appointed by the parish will be available for your child to consult with if need be. They take this responsibility seriously.

Also, I don't know if it is within the discretion of the priest to decide whether your child can be confirmed without a sponsor. Since the Ordinary (Bishop) is solely responsible for the administering of the sacrmament in the diocese, I would think that at the very least, a dispensation from him for your child to be without sponsor would be required. Of course, he would probably ask if everything has been done to find a suitable sponsor, including canvassing good Catholics in the parish, as we have.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 24, 2004.

James, does this mean all your child's teachers in the future will have to known to him/her to be effective? Does this mean the best math teacher for your child will not require a degree in math as your primary prerequisite, but rather, only need to have been exposed to math and have a fond affection for your child? If you feel this strongly about this individual standing for your child, why not have him stand in as a witness along with a Catholic sponsor. He could still offer guidance and support to your child in the future?

In any event, I am still not sure your pastor has the authority to grant such a request. I would be interested in knowing under what authority he is permitting this.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 30, 2004.

Hi James,

Just following up on your child's confirmation. I hope all went well. Did you end up using your non-Catholic family friend as a sponsor for your child? Did he stand alone? I am interested in learning how this all came out in light of the above. Thanks.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), April 15, 2004.