Confirmation Sponsor

[mastda]

Hello, my wife and I have a huge problem. Our son is being confirmed this year and we have been asked to get a sponsor for him. Problem is we really don’t know many people in our church and being reverts we know more protestants than Catholics. The Catholic family members we have only attend church once a year and in fact put down the teachings often. We are stuck and have to give a name soon. Plus we found out it cannot be a parent.

Why is a sponsor necessary?

Has anyone experienced this and how did you solve it.?

 

[puzzleannie]

my suggestion to candidates and parents in this situation is to attend the parent sponsor meetings, and there you will probably find some families you know, and since those parents of your child’s classmates will be there, you can sponsor each other’s children (assuming of course the adults qualify). Ordinarily the Confirmation sponsor is the baptismal godparent, but if they cannot serve for whatever reason, canon law does urge (not insist) that a sponsor be chosen as a mentor in the Christian life, and also as a representative of the wider Christian community. You could also ask your son if there is a Catholic adult (who is fully inititated and living in conformity with Catholic teaching, including that on marriage) who he admires and would be a good role model. It can also be an older teen or young adult, relative or not, who is confirmed and meets the requirements.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

my suggestion to candidates and parents in this situation is to attend the parent sponsor meetings, and there you will probably find some families you know, and since those parents of your child’s classmates will be there, you can sponsor each other’s children (assuming of course the adults qualify). Ordinarily the Confirmation sponsor is the baptismal godparent, but if they cannot serve for whatever reason, canon law does urge (not insist) that a sponsor be chosen as a mentor in the Christian life, and also as a representative of the wider Christian community. You could also ask your son if there is a Catholic adult (who is fully inititated and living in conformity with Catholic teaching, including that on marriage) who he admires and would be a good role model. It can also be an older teen or young adult, relative or not, who is confirmed and meets the requirements.

Also keep in mind that the childs Baptismal Godparent if they still qualify, need not be physically present, and can be represented by a Proxy.

 

[FrDavid96]

Hello, my wife and I have a huge problem. Our son is being confirmed this year and we have been asked to get a sponsor for him. Problem is we really don’t know many people in our church and being reverts we know more protestants than Catholics. The Catholic family members we have only attend church once a year and in fact put down the teachings often. We are stuck and have to give a name soon. Plus we found out it cannot be a parent.

Why is a sponsor necessary?

Has anyone experienced this and how did you solve it.?

Why sponsors?
On the one hand, there’s the historical answer. When the Church was persecuted in ancient times, one could only attend Mass or other gatherings if someone who was already a member of the Church admitted him. Remember, it was a secret meeting and the only way anyone gets into a secret meeting is if someone who’s already a member is willing to vouch for him. They didn’t want to admit Nero’s spies into a Mass, after all!
Along with that went a promise made by the one bringing the friend that this person would help the new member along, teaching and guiding him.

Today, that second role of sponsor is what the Church is looking for. Someone who is already matured in the faith, and is willing to stand before the bishop and say “yes, my friend here is ready to be confirmed” The sponsor is also saying “I will help my friend along, guiding and nurturing the faith” “I take responsibility.”

The parents can’t be sponsors because it is already the responsibility of parents to raise their children in the faith.

Instead of asking “who do we know well in the parish?” the better question is for your son to ask himself “who do I want to immitate in my faith and Christian life?” You may be surprised to realize that you already know “of” someone, but you just might not have looked at it in those terms.