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Apologetics

Faith/Spirituality Forum: Christening of baby and Godparents

by Catherine Frakas 11 Jun 2001

Christening of baby and Godparents QUESTION from Doreen Valenty July 23, 2001 My daughter is due her first child a boy in September. Her husband wants his brother to be godfather, and my daughter wants one of her 4 brothers for godfather. She had a very bad arguement with his brother a few months ago and he said alot of very nasty things to her. He also said he didn't care about the baby she was carrying.. My daughter does not want to speak to him again, and does not want him as godfather...Her husband still wants him to be godfather in spite of this. I said that to keep peace with her husband she should have his brother and her brother as 2 Godfathers. Is it possible to have 2 godfathers at a christening? And then can she have 2 godmothers as well?
This is a source of many disagreements between my daughter and her husband..
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on July 28, 2001 Dear Mrs. Valenty:
The rules on godparents are listed in Canon Law from canons 872-874.
In canon 873 the number of sponsors (godparents) is limited to one of each sex. In other words, there can be one godparent who is male or female, or there can be two godparents one of whom is male and the other female. It is not allowed to have two male godfathers or two female godmothers.
Choosing a Godparent is a very serious thing. This is not just for the baptism ceremony. A Godparent is a person who takes filial interest in the child's welfare and upbringing in the faith. The Godparent is an assistant to the parents in these parantal responsibilities to rear the child in the Catholic Faith.
Should the parents die, the Godparents will have direct responsibility to see to it that the child grows up in the faith. Godparents are also advisors to the child even when they grow up and remain concerned about them and their spiritual health. Thus Godparents become part of the family and are partners with the parents.
Given this serious, intimate, and important nature of the role of Godparents there REALLY needs to be a mutual cooperation and agreement between the parents. This decision is as serious as the decision of whom to leave the kids upon the death of the parents, and indeed, oftentimes the choice of guardianship upon the parents death that many parents choose is the Godparents.
And the person or persons chosen must not be for token reasons to satisfy family desires, the person chosen needs to be qualified in maturity and stability in the faith to be able to accept the responsibilities of assisting the parents, or perhaps taking a direct role if the parents die.
A compromise Godparent just to get through the baptism is improper and irresponsible. To choose a person as Godparent who does not care about the baby would be an act of shear parental incompetence and irresponsibility. This is not a game, and Godparent is not a token job.
In any event, the Church allows a maximum of two Godparents and then only if one is male and the other female. Other people can be there as witnesses however.
By the way, non-Catholics cannot act as a Godparent, but they can be present as witnesses.
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