Baptism - why the restriction of only having one godparent of each sex (if you have two)

[timlexky]

I understand that Canon Law indicates that IF you are going to have two Catholic Godparents, you must have a male and female. I got that. But can someone point to any good sources to explain WHY this is the case?

Please, no theories. I need a solid Catholic resource. All through the set of threads on this topic I see many comments about how people need to be better catechized. I agree. But the catechesis can’t begin and end with “because Canon Law says so.” I’m sure someone has written on this topic and has a cogent reason for this restriction. Thanks!

Deacon Tim

 

[otjm]

I understand that Canon Law indicates that IF you are going to have two Catholic Godparents, you must have a male and female. I got that. But can someone point to any good sources to explain WHY this is the case?

Please, no theories. I need a solid Catholic resource. All through the set of threads on this topic I see many comments about how people need to be better catechized. I agree. But the catechesis can’t begin and end with “because Canon Law says so.” I’m sure someone has written on this topic and has a cogent reason for this restriction. Thanks!

Deacon Tim

My guess would be that you might find it somewhere in a Sacramental Theology course, or Sacramental History (if such exists). Or perhaps within the study of Canon law, particularly from a historical point of view.

 

[Todd977]

The 2000 article on “The Role of Godparents” by Fr. William Saunders, dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria, says that the reason behind the restrictions of sponsors to one person or at most two people, one male and one female, was “to eliminate the practice of having numerous sponsors, as has occurred in some cultures.”

Unsolicited speculation: If I understand the article correctly, the Church prefers that there be only one sponsor. Allowing at most two sponsors, one male and one female, seems to be a concession to longstanding custom of having at least one male sponsor and at least one female sponsor. This concession was probably made because in some places the culturally-defined role of “godfather” and the culturally-defined role of “godmother” are different.

 

[dans0622]

I understand that Canon Law indicates that IF you are going to have two Catholic Godparents, you must have a male and female. I got that. But can someone point to any good sources to explain WHY this is the case?

Please, no theories. I need a solid Catholic resource. All through the set of threads on this topic I see many comments about how people need to be better catechized. I agree. But the catechesis can’t begin and end with “because Canon Law says so.” …

Hello,

I kind of like that answer. In seriousness, I don’t think there is much of a rationale beyond the fact that we have one father and one mother.

Frankly, I’ve never heard of a rationale behind this restriction (other than what was said earlier by “Todd977”) and never even bothered to wonder about it. Maybe I will look into it a little but…

Dan

 

[Phemie]

Hello,

I kind of like that answer. In seriousness, I don’t think there is much of a rationale beyond the fact that we have one father and one mother.

Frankly, I’ve never heard of a rationale behind this restriction (other than what was said earlier by “Todd977”) and never even bothered to wonder about it. Maybe I will look into it a little but…

Dan

I remember reading about this in a commentary in the 1983 Code book I had in the parish office. As I recall the comment was that this was a change from the 1917 Code and was done to prevent the over the top number of godparents that had become common in some places – perhaps the term “over the top” was not the term used.

There were several changes with godparents from the 1917 to the 1983 Code. Some had to do with who could and couldn’t be a godparent, others with the role of the godparent during the ceremony and still another with the removal of the impediment to marriage that resulted from being a person’s godparent.

 

[dans0622]

I remember reading about this in a commentary in the 1983 Code book I had in the parish office. As I recall the comment was that this was a change from the 1917 Code and was done to prevent the over the top number of godparents that had become common in some places – perhaps the term “over the top” was not the term used.

There were several changes with godparents from the 1917 to the 1983 Code. Some had to do with who could and couldn’t be a godparent, others with the role of the godparent during the ceremony and still another with the removal of the impediment to marriage that resulted from being a person’s godparent.

After my extensive research (about 10 minutes), I will offer a second response.

The universal restriction to one Godparent (or a Godfather and a Godmother), goes back to the Council of Trent, Session 24. This restriction was maintained through the 1917 Code until today. So, there was no change from the old Code to the new one (on this issue). I read of medieval places/situations where it was possible to have up to 20. On the other hand, some ecclesiastical laws said there should only be one Godparent. Up until Trent, there were regional differences. Trent did away with that with the universal law.

Trent put the restriction in the discussion of Matrimony and so the restriction was directly related to the marital impediment of “spiritual relationship” that arose from a valid baptism between the minister and the baptized and the baptized and the Godparents. The 1983 Code no longer includes this impediment but the limitation on Godparents remains.

This restriction explains why there can be, at most, two Godparents. It doesn’t directly answer the question of why there can be one man and one woman, though. I can’t give a different answer on that–it simply corresponds to natural parentage.

Dan

 

[timlexky]

Thanks everyone for the research and reporting. It seems to me as if the change was to restrict the number of godparents because it was out of control in places, they would have simply said, “Only one godparent is needed but two are allowed - but no more.”

So it does seem there is some tie in to natural parentage but it would be nice if the rationale had been more clearly stated.