Hi there,
I’m making my confirmation next year. I have a 19 yr. old cousin who is practically a sister to me. She’s very religious, and she helps me grow in my faith. She’s very close to me.
Can she be my sponsor? She’s already confirmed.
Thanks!
Jeanne
Sounds as though she meets the criteria.
Canon law says this in the section on Confirmation sponsors:
Can. 893 §1. To perform the function of sponsor, a person must fulfill the conditions mentioned in ⇒ can. 874.
Canon 874 says:
Can. 874 §1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:
1/ be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.
Usually, your god-parents are your confirmation sponsers. The requirements are the sponser must be a practicing Catholic, with all sacraments in order, including confirmation. If she has not been confirmed, she cannot sponser. Ask your priest. Pax Christi
I don’t remember ever reading anything in the requirements that say one of your Godparents should be your sponsor. Do you have a source for this information?
No, I don’t. I just know that it is done that way in the parishes in my area.
It’s not required but it is encouraged by Canon Law:
Can. 893 §1. To perform the function of sponsor, a person must fulfill the conditions mentioned in ⇒ can. 874.
§2. It is desirable to choose as sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism.
She seems to have two of the most important qualifications, she also needs to be a practicing Catholic in good standing. You didn’t specifically say that?
She is a very practicing Catholic. She attends Mass every week, and does teen ministry, as well as helping around Chuch. The thing is, I’m not really that close to my godparents. I’m closer to her.
Where I live, the Confirmation Sponsor and the Godparents are usuallly different people.
Your cousin sounds like a good choice…
there is no such requirement, but since when new adults are brought into the Church through baptism and confirmation, with the same sponsor, it follows that ordinarily the baptismal godparent is also the confirmation sponsor, because of the close link of those two sacraments (in theology, if not in calendar time). By the time many baptized Catholics are confirmed in middle school or later, the baptismal godparents may not be willing or able to serve, so there is nothing wrong with choosing a new sponsor, who meets the same requirements (listed above) as the baptismal godparent. There need be only one, of either gender.
And, in the Eastern Catholic Churches, the two are done together for all but a rare few: children translated from the latin rite, and converts from protestantism.
She sounds like a good choice.