Can someone irregularly married be a Christian witness at a baptism?

[adreiling]

I chose a godmother for my daughter, but later found out she was not married in the Church. She has been divorced but has reconciled with her husband and they are still living together. Can she still be a godparent or can she be a Christian witness? She is the only person I would trust to be my daughter’s godparent.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Assuming this person’s marriage status is irregular (you have not told me enough for me to know one way or the other), no, she cannot be a godparent or a Christian witness at a Catholic baptism. In the case of a godparent, one of the stipulations is that the person be someone “who lives a life of faith which befits the role to be undertaken” (canon 874 §1 3°), which excludes a Catholic living in an irregular marriage. In the case of a Christian witness, that is someone who is not a Catholic and who is admitted to the role only when there is also a Catholic godparent (Principles and Norms on Ecumenism 98a), the godparent being the one who assists the parents in forming the child in the Catholic faith. Prudence suggests that a Christian witness also be someone “who lives a life of faith which befits the role to be undertaken.”

I can only recommend that you find out for certain whether or not your friend’s marriage is irregular in the eyes of the Church. If it is not, she cannot be the godmother and I cannot recommend that she be a Christian witness. I can only recommend that you widen your search for an appropriate godparent for your daughter, keeping in mind that godparenthood in the Catholic tradition is not a social honor but a serious responsibility that demands that the candidate be truly capable of the duties involved.