Dont know who to ask to be our son's godparents!

[Kraftster]

Hi, I need some advice. We are having our son baptized next month, but I dont know who to ask to be godparents. WIth our daughter we asked the “best” Catholics we know…and I have second guessed it ever since. My friend is the godmother and she uses birth control and isnt really into the faith much, just goes to church most of the time, you know… and my cousin is her godfather and he thought his sons first communion was “no big deal”. Goes to church too…but again, not really a hard core Catholic. I dont know if we should ask the same people, we really dont know any other Catholics that are any better…unless we ask Grandma…but she is 67 years old! We are very close to a Catholic Priest, but I dont know if they can be Godparents, and he is so busy he would prob say he couldnt take it on, even if he was allowed to. None of the rest of our family are practicing Catholics and none of our friends really are either. I just dont know what to do! I want the best for our son, and I feel soo soo bad that we settled for our daughters godparents, I feel like we didnt do our best for her. But short of asking someone from church who we dont really know well, what should we do?? I really cant stand that we cant come up with 2 people we know who are practicing Catholics! Any advice???

 

[JKirkLVNV]

Hi, I need some advice. We are having our son baptized next month, but I dont know who to ask to be godparents. WIth our daughter we asked the “best” Catholics we know…and I have second guessed it ever since. My friend is the godmother and she uses birth control and isnt really into the faith much, just goes to church most of the time, you know… and my cousin is her godfather and he thought his sons first communion was “no big deal”. Goes to church too…but again, not really a hard core Catholic. I dont know if we should ask the same people, we really dont know any other Catholics that are any better…unless we ask Grandma…but she is 67 years old! We are very close to a Catholic Priest, but I dont know if they can be Godparents, and he is so busy he would prob say he couldnt take it on, even if he was allowed to. None of the rest of our family are practicing Catholics and none of our friends really are either. I just dont know what to do! I want the best for our son, and I feel soo soo bad that we settled for our daughters godparents, I feel like we didnt do our best for her. But short of asking someone from church who we dont really know well, what should we do?? I really cant stand that we cant come up with 2 people we know who are practicing Catholics! Any advice???

Priests are free to be godparents. And a priest can also help you pick godparents. Ask your pastor. I think your grandmother is a good idea, what’s wrong with that?

 

[Windmill]

The godparents are not honorary titles, they are the ones who will be in charge of your children’s spiritual development should you and your spouse both die. IOW, the question you need to ask yourself is this: “Who is taking their eternal salvation seriously?” These people will be the ones who take on the burden of getting your kids to heaven.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

There are many, many, many threads on CAF regarding this issue. Search “godparents baptism” and see what you get.

There is nothing wrong with naming your grandmother or mother as godmother. Sixty-seven is not old, and she could outlive you all.

You only need one godparent. If you have two, they need to be one of each gender- but you don’t need two.

If there is somebody you’d like to ask who lives a distance away, have that person’s pastor send your parish a letter stating the person is a practicing Catholic. If the person cannot make the baptism, you can use a proxy, a stunt-double of a godparent.

You are not going to find the perfect person. If you find one good person who tries, and maybe doesn’t always come up to the mark of perfect but tries to be a good Catholic, you wil have done more than most parents. And please don’t write off your daughter’s godparents just yet.