Christian bashing radical homosexual wants to be a godfather at baptismal

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Hello everyone.

Here’s the situation. A radical homosexual member of the family (married to a fellow man) is trying to be a godfather to a baptismal of a baby. He has openly bashed Christianity and the Bible. Calling it and its readers plenty of derogatory names. Now, another member of the family (not aware of his hateful intolerance) is asking him to be a godfather of her daughter. Yet despite of his hatred for the church and the Bible, would like to go through with the baptismal.

As a Catholic I am highly offended and is sick to my stomach how this person has no shame. Would I be stepping out of line if I bring this up to the mother or even the pastor? I don’t want him disqualified but at the same time I am greatly disturbed on how such a hypocrite has no shame.

Now I know we’re all sinners but this just really disturbs me. It bothers me how he can act like nothing happened and that he loves the church an all its people simply because he wants to commit the novelty act of being a godfather. He doesn’t believe the tenets of the church and yet he’s participating. Am I wrong?
 
If the baby is to be baptized Catholic, typically the home parish of the godparents will notify the parish where the baptism will occur if the godparents are suitable. The degree to which this actually occurs varies, but if he’s not registered at a parish or a regular Mass attendee he may not get to be a godparent at all.

If the family is not Catholic, then the rules about baptism and godparents could be very different.

Unfortunately, you also have no way of knowing for sure what the baby’s mother knows or doesn’t know about this person’s views.
 
Our parish required the Godparents to attend the same traing as the parents. Tends to eliminate the naysayers.
 
Jay_Santos said:
I don’t want him disqualified
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Actually, if he bashes the Church and is living in open defiance and disregard for Church teaching, then he absolutely is disqualified to be a baptismal sponsor.

You most definitely ought to contact the priest and mother of the child. It is a scandal for someone who basically hates the Church to be a baptismal sponsor. It is things like this that confuse outsiders (as well as the faithful) and cause them to conclude that the Church doesn’t take her own teachings seriously.

Some parishes require a letter from the potential sponsor’s parish, attesting that they are a Catholic in good standing, but not all parishes follow this policy. In addition, even if they do require a letter, if the potential sponsor is from a large parish, the priest or other person writing the letter may know nothing about him personally, other than that his name is on the parish’s directory of members and which sacraments he has received.
 
From the Catechism:
1255 For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents’ help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized - child or adult on the road of Christian life.55 Their task is a truly ecclesial function (officium).56 The whole ecclesial community bears some responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism.
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That being said, a non-Catholic can be a “witness”, even if they can’t be an actual, technical “godparent”. But at least one of the candidates has to be a good, practicing Catholic, because the whole point of being a godparent is to have someone who can contribute to the child’s faith life.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
Actually, if he bashes the Church and is living in open defiance and disregard for Church teaching, then he absolutely is disqualified to be a baptismal sponsor.

You most definitely ought to contact the priest and mother of the child. It is a scandal for someone who basically hates the Church to be a baptismal sponsor. It is things like this that confuse outsiders (as well as the faithful) and cause them to conclude that the Church doesn’t take her own teachings seriously.

Some parishes require a letter from the potential sponsor’s parish, attesting that they are a Catholic in good standing, but not all parishes follow this policy. In addition, even if they do require a letter, if the potential sponsor is from a large parish, the priest or other person writing the letter may know nothing about him personally, other than that his name is on the parish’s directory of members and which sacraments he has received.
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I get the impression this is not a Catholic Baptism.
 
If it is not a Catholic baptism, then I am not sure what the requirement would be for a Godparent. However, in our archdiocese, the Godparents have to Catholics in good standing (with a certificate from their parish) and attend a class as other noted.

A Godparent has a large spiritual role to play in a Catholic’s life. It is not meant to be bestowed as an honor. My son just made his Confirmation, and his sponsor (also his Godfather) had to go trough a full examination of his spiritual life before being given the OK. And that was at his parish!

If the case the OP mentioned is a Catholic baptism, then it would be promoting scandal by having other Catholics wrongly think that this person’s behavior is still worthy of being a Catholic godparent.

I know this reply may hurt some who read it, but it really is in the best interest of everyone’s soul that we don’t promote scandal.
 
Irishmom2 said:
OP, is this person Catholic and is this a Catholic baptism?
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That’s my question too… I also wonder why a church-hater would want to be a godfather (?)

If it’s a denomination which allows it, it’s up to the minister and the mother.
 
The point of a godparent is someone who can aid in the good spiritual upbringing of the baptized child within the Catholic Faith, especially by his good Catholic example. In addition, the Code of Canon Law explicitly states that (emphasis mine):

"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.

§2. A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community is not to participate except together with a Catholic sponsor and then only as a witness of the baptism."

Therefore, there is no way that this individual would ever be allowed to be the godfather of the child by the pastor of the parent’s church, even if the parents wanted him to be.

However, if the parents are not baptizing their baby into the Catholic Church but rather some other Christian community, then who knows… 🤷

May God bless you and allow the situation to work out in the end! 🙂
 
May I just put in one thought: It’s possible that he doesn’t understand what the role of the Godparent is, isn’t it? I know some people believe that a Godparent takes responsibility for raising a kid in the event both parents are killed. I actually saw this on tv the other day, and I was like, “No, that’s not what it means” but there it was on a tv show so who knows how many people actually think that. He may not realize this means he would have to take a role in the faith formation of the child. It might be good to clarify that.
 
Unfortunately, though, he is probably a close friend of the parents and someone they’d hesitate to offend by withdrawing their request that he be a godparent. They might also be indignant that you don’t think their choice is “good enough.”

I think I would tell the pastor discretely that one of the would-be godparents has gone the route of civil same-sex marriage, since that falls in the category of a public and notorious opposition to the teachings of the Church. I’d be clear that this was only for his information, however, and be clear that I was leaving the decision about how to handle that up to the pastor and would not be talking about the matter to anyone except the parents or the would-be godparent. I did not want to cause trouble in my family, and I would accept whatever he wanted to do with the information. This isn’t an act that ought to make the rounds in the family news, as that serves no positive end.
 
What a hypocrite!

This man doesn’t even believe in the things he says he does.
He can’t bash Christianity and them want to join them without a true conversion.
Can a Christ hater be a good Christian? Preposterous!

Maybe he just wants to be at the center of attention.
 
Deltadeliquent said:
What a hypocrite!

This man doesn’t even believe in the things he says he does.
He can’t bash Christianity and them want to join them without a true conversion.
Can a Christ hater be a good Christian? Preposterous!

Maybe he just wants to be at the center of attention.
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He may simply want the privileged position of being the godfather. There are lots of people who aren’t religious but who romanticize about folk myth and very much like the idea of being a child’s godfather or godmother. The role has a magical fairytale sound to it, and many people want to be a central character in a child’s fairytale. (This sort of thinking is common among those who self-identify as “spiritual-but-not-religious.”)
 
EasterJoy said:
Unfortunately, though, he is probably a close friend of the parents and someone they’d hesitate to offend by withdrawing their request that he be a godparent. They might also be indignant that you don’t think their choice is “good enough.”

I think I would tell the pastor discretely that one of the would-be godparents has gone the route of civil same-sex marriage, since that falls in the category of a public and notorious opposition to the teachings of the Church. I’d be clear that this was only for his information, however, and be clear that I was leaving the decision about how to handle that up to the pastor and would not be talking about the matter to anyone except the parents or the would-be godparent. I did not want to cause trouble in my family, and I would accept whatever he wanted to do with the information. This isn’t an act that ought to make the rounds in the family news, as that serves no positive end.
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Excellent advice!
 
The main objective would be making sure that the child has a godparent who actually believes in God and teaches the Catholic faith.

It’s a terrible thing to violate a Catholic child’s rights under canon law, especially for the sake of adult whims. Adults are supposed to protect and care for children’s souls, not play games with them.
 
EasterJoy said:
Unfortunately, though, he is probably a close friend of the parents and someone they’d hesitate to offend by withdrawing their request that he be a godparent. They might also be indignant that you don’t think their choice is “good enough.”

I think I would tell the pastor discretely that one of the would-be godparents has gone the route of civil same-sex marriage, since that falls in the category of a public and notorious opposition to the teachings of the Church. I’d be clear that this was only for his information, however, and be clear that I was leaving the decision about how to handle that up to the pastor and would not be talking about the matter to anyone except the parents or the would-be godparent. I did not want to cause trouble in my family, and I would accept whatever he wanted to do with the information. This isn’t an act that ought to make the rounds in the family news, as that serves no positive end.
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Yeah, that’s what I think would be best. You have to give the info to the pastor without sounding like it’s gossiping. I mean that’s his job, right? So in the end he has to decide.

I mean there is a small chance that all that outward hatred is just grandstanding and hurt talking, but the child’s going to probably have more of a relationship with this guy as a godfather than if he was disqualified so some thought has to be given to that. I don’t know.
 
Deltadeliquent said:
What a hypocrite!

This man doesn’t even believe in the things he says he does.
He can’t bash Christianity and them want to join them without a true conversion.
Can a Christ hater be a good Christian? Preposterous!
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That is one tall assumption you have made. Perhaps he is not a Christ hater at all. There are many ways one can love Christ and want to be part of the spiritual upbringing of a beloved child.
 
ComplineSanFran said:
That is one tall assumption you have made. Perhaps he is not a Christ hater at all. There are many ways one can love Christ and want to be part of the spiritual upbringing of a beloved child.
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It is fair to warn against judging his culpability concerning the way he acts and talks, as that is not our place, but his habitual actions are incompatible with being a sponsor for a Catholic baptism:

***Can. 874 §1. *To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must…3/ be a Catholic…who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;

How can he be permitted to be a baptismal sponsor if the OP is being at all truthful about the things that disqualify him? Namely:
He has openly bashed Christianity and the Bible. Calling it and its readers plenty of derogatory names. and he has entered into a civil marriage with another man, in violation of the nature of marriage itself.
 
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