Can a sponsor invalidate Baptism or Confirmation?

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chasingcars

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  1. If a baby is baptized in the Catholic Church but later it turns out that their sponsor wasn’t a Catholic in a good standing with the Church or a Catholic at all, would that make the baptism invalid?
  2. If a young person received Confirmation and later found out that their sponsor who claimed to be a Catholic in a good standing was actually a Lutheran, would that make the Confirmation invalid?
  3. If an adult who was validly baptized in the Lutheran Church wants to become a Catholic, is received into the Church by the Bishop and later finds out that their sponsor wasn’t a Catholic in a good standing with the Church, would their reception to the Church be invalid and the person still a non-Catholic?
 
There is nothing about the sponsor that can invalidate a baptism or confirmation. The sponsor is not part of matter, form, or intent for the sacrament. Having a sponsor who is not eligible to be so under the law has absolutely zero bearing on whether the sacrament occurs.

-Fr ACEGC
 
Father just said the sponsor can’t invalidate a baptism or confirmation. Why are you continuing to ask?

The case of the person you mention would be a confirmation.
 
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Once again, The Priest Just Told You It’s Fine.

The person being received makes a promise. The bishop confirms him. It does not matter if the sponsor is a lying atheist who just committed a mass murder in the parking lot.

If you are still bothered by this PLEASE speak with your own priest as you may have scruples.
 
In order for a sacrament to be valid, the following are necessary:
  1. Matter: The material used in the working of the sacrament.
  2. Form: The words that are said in the working of the sacrament.
  3. Intent: The intention of the minister to do what the Church does by the sacrament. This is presumed if 1 and 2 are present–i.e. even if someone didn’t believe baptism did anything, if they used water (the matter of baptism) and said the correct words (the form), then the baptism is valid.
For baptism:
  1. Matter: Water.
  2. Form: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
  3. Intent: To do what the Church does in baptism, namely to cleanse original sin (and actual sin in adult converts), and to incorporate the person into the Body of Christ, the Church. Assuming water and the proper form were used, the intention is presumed, and so the baptism is valid, even if done by a non-believer.
For Confirmation:
  1. Matter: Sacred Chrism
  2. Form: “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
  3. Intent: To seal the grace of baptism, to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit in the confirmand.
None of these has the slightest thing to do with who the sponsor is, whether the sponsor was eligible, etc. The sponsor is simply whomever witnessed the sacrament taking place, and in the case of infant baptism, the “godparent,” who is supposed to provide a good Christian witness to the child being baptized. In emergency situations, there may be no witness at all, and thus no sponsor recorded in the baptismal/confirmation records.

So I repeat: the sponsor has nothing to do with baptismal validity. Absolutely nothing. Even if the sponsor was a Celtic neo-pagan shacking up with his same-sex partner and doing animal sacrifices out in the backyard. Baptism and confirmation are still valid. This has NOTHING to do with the sponsor. Nothing. I repeat: absolutely. Nothing.

-Fr ACEGC
 
My suggestion to you, based on this and your posting history, is that you stop asking these kinds of questions here and seek the help of a priest for properly understanding the sacraments and properly forming your conscience. You seem to be scrupulous, and asking these questions on an internet forum will just drive your need for reassurance, which will just repeat the cycle.

To all others, please stop posting to this thread and let our friend seek help in the most fruitful ways.

You are in my prayers.
 
“Receiving someone into the Church” is not a sacrament. Ergo, it cannot be valid or invalid.

And even if it could, sponsors have nothing to do with sacramental validity. Neither the matter, form, nor intent of any sacrament involves having a sponsor.

Please stop asking these questions on here.
 
I am a priest.

I have a decade of theological education. I have multiple advanced degrees, two in theology and one in medical ethics. And apart from any of that, I am a priest, i.e. I have received six years of priestly formation at a seminary, and I have three years experience serving as a priest in a parish.

In this three years, I have baptized dozens of babies, I have confirmed a handful of people in special situations, I have celebrated Mass over 1400 times, I have heard somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 confessions, I have married over three dozen couples, I have anointed hundreds of sick and dying people, and I have participated in the ordination Masses of dozens of other priests and deacons. I have literally performed the sacraments or witnessed their performance thousands upon thousands of times.

Why on earth would you think I am not sure?
 
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chasingcars said:
But before Confirmation, the adult who is received into the Church has to read the “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God” text and then the Bishop (or priest) formally received them into the Church.
So, if the sponsor is not a Catholic in a good standing (or is in state of mortal sin) is the person still validly received into the Church?
I’m seriously, seriously sick with worry right now.
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The Sponsor has no impact on the validity of a Baptism or Confirmation.

How many people do you want to tell you this before you believe it. I hope you realise that the second post in this thread (first reply to your opening post) is by a priest. Do you not believe a priest?
 
Okay, the answer has been given, repeatedly. It was probably ill-advised of me to continue to respond, and I would advise others to join me in simply commending our friend here to prayer and discontinuing the thread.

@chasingcars, you are in my prayers, and I hope you get the help you need offline.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I’m sorry for being annoying. I didn’t mean to offend or annoy anyone.
 
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