G
Gorgias
Guest
Certainly. However, that doesn’t necessarily imply that we can fulfill the goals of sponsorship “long distance”, does it?
Last edited:
- Status
T
TheLittleLady
Guest
Yes, it does. I would FAR rather my children have a sponsor who prays for them, who lives the Faith out loud, who my kids can trust to answer questions than a next door neighbor who has no real relationship with my child.
G
Gorgias
Guest
Again, yet another straw man. No one is suggesting that a person picks a person “who has no real relationship” with a confirmand. Rather, the parish simply seems to be pointing out that having the kind of relationship that the canons and the rituals envision is something that can take place “long distance” or “through FaceTime”.
T
TheLittleLady
Guest
Show me what parts of these, the Canonical Requirements, that require a person to be within a specific geographic proximity?
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.
Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.
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.
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.
Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.
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.
E
Elf01
Guest
I can see this being easier to verify if the sponsor lives in the dioces, but could easily be done via other means.
T
TheLittleLady
Guest
Sponsors outside of the parish are asked to provide a letter of good standing from their pastor, that is SOP.
I am surprised to heard a rule like that!
Is it a rule from your diocese or a rule of “this” deacon?
What would they prefer, a devout Catholic far away or a Catholic near her that don’t practice and have no relation with the confirmed?
When I had done my confirmation at 18, I had a 2 years prepartion as you, but our sponsors were NEVER involved in it!
Is it a rule from your diocese or a rule of “this” deacon?
What would they prefer, a devout Catholic far away or a Catholic near her that don’t practice and have no relation with the confirmed?
When I had done my confirmation at 18, I had a 2 years prepartion as you, but our sponsors were NEVER involved in it!
Never heard of this rule too. I am almost sure that nobody was requiered or asked from our sponsor.
Last edited:
M
maryjk
Guest
And those are the only two choices?
I don’t have a dog in this fight. My son was confirmed years ago, and chose a local sponsor.
But why would you assume the the distant sponsor is devout Catholic and anyone local wouldn’t be?
I
Irishmom2
Guest
Sometimes people do not know anyone or have any relatives locally. It isn’t that local people aren’t “good” but that they just aren’t anyone the person seeking a sponsor knows.
M
maryjk
Guest
But that isn’t what the poster said.
The distant relative is devout, and the local people aren’t.
The distant relative is devout, and the local people aren’t.
H
Horton
Guest
We require verification of suitability from all sponsors. If they are members of our own parish we still require the form filled out and returned. Often, if we know the person well, I will take it to the priest to have it signed.
This year we had a couple of sponsors we did not know at all. The secretary & I looked in the records to show they were in fact married in the Church and were eligible to be sponsors.
It is a rule and all parishes should be verifying the information.
G
Gorgias
Guest
Again: straw man. We’re not talking “canonical requirements”, we’re talking pastoral prudential judgment. The argument that they’re running afoul of canon law is missing the point. The claim of the parish, from what we’re being told, was never “you’re unaccaptable because you don’t meet canonical requirements”.
Wow. There must be something in the water – why does this irrelevant argument keep cropping up?
A
AlNg
Guest
Yes. I know of sponsors who lived in other countries.
P
phil19034
Guest
What you say is true and how it should be 100% of the time.Agnus-Dei:
RCIA is for the unbaptized, people who are not Christians who need to learn about Christianity.
When an already baptized Christian comes to the Church, they meet with pastor who determines how much that individual needs to learn about Catholicism, it might be months or it might be they are ready tomorrow.
However, far too many parishes make Baptised converts go through RCIA for a year.
P
phil19034
Guest
I disagree with this.
The ideal & preferred Confirmation sponsor is the Godparents. The role of the sponsor is really the exact same thing as the Godparents.
After all, the legal name for the Catholic Godparent is “sponsor.”
However, the Church realizes that sometimes mistakes are made when picking Godparents, people die, etc. So selecting another person besides a Godparent is an option. But a Godparent is still the preferred.
Of course, it is a cliché and we can in therory find a sponsor that is close and devout.
But apparently it is not the case here, as the person concerned as no other family in the country than this far away cousin.
But all people who got confirmed as a family composed of people who are both devout Catholics and live in the diocese! You would be lucky to find a match! If you have one of this possibility, you are lucky but expected both may be too much.
And to take someone outside the family? Seriousely who is the teenager who has enough strong bounds with an adult outside of his family that is confirmed and devout Catholics to choose him as a sponsor?
Sponsor is a great deal. It is spiritual bound for life. Often there it is difficult to find someone outside the family from whom you have good chances to except to remain in contact!
Where? in your parish?
1
1ke
Guest
I was talking about this specific confirmandi.In the RCC, yes. In the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Tradition, we get confirmed when we’re babies (including yours truly).
P
poche
Guest
Doesn’t what you are saying contradict what you said earlier? This implies that the parish will appoint someone who only knows candidate superficially while a family member or someone chosen by them who while they might live further away might know them much better. How far away is too far? 100 miles 200 miles? What about someone who recently moved to the area? Does that mean that they have to accept a stranger chosen by the religious education director? Would that chosen person know the candidate better than someone who may have lived closer but because of a change in residency is out of an official residency range?
- Status