Godparents question

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birsty

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My daughter would like for her brother to be Godfather to her daughter. My son is 16 and in confirmation classes currently. He will be confirmed in May 2019. The Godmother is in full communion with the church. Our church is telling me my son is not in full communion and therefore cannot be the Godfather. It is my understanding he is in full communion as far as he can be. Is this correct? If so why would we allow a non-catholic to be Godparent/witness and not allow a 16 year old who has attended Catholic school all his life and is preparing for confirmation?
 
And all other non-confirmed - are witnesses. The reason being is that the Godparent has to make promises to help raise the child in the faith and believe all the Catholic church teaches.
 
birsty said:
Our church is telling me my son is not in full communion and therefore cannot be the Godfather.
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Your son is in full communion, he simply has not completed his sacraments of initiation.

From canon law:
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.

§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.
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Someone misspoke to you. The reason is that your son is not yet fully initiated into the Sacraments, (has not yet received Confirmation).

I would sit down and speak with your pastor, it is possible your pastor could receive permission to confirm your son in time for the baptism!
 
TheLittleLady said:
I would sit down and speak with your pastor, it is possible your pastor could receive permission to confirm your son in time for the baptism!
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Or, more likely, the pastor could get permission for a relaxation of the rule. 😉
 
My experience matches what @TheLittleLady and @Gorgias are saying. Whatever canon law may say, in practice each diocese and even each parish is free to grant exemptions.
 
To be clear, I said nothing about granting an exception to Canon Law.

What I said is there is a chance that the potential sponsor may have their Confirmation date moved up.
 
Okay, I misquoted you, I’m sorry. But dioceses and parishes can grant exemptions if they want to, and in many places it happens all the time.
 
Yeah I would talk to the priest about this. Based on the law he may not be the godparent but canon laws are more like canon suggestions and are routinely ignored or exceptions are freely given. It just depends on who the priest is, so you might as well try.
 
In my experience, exemptions to Canon law are only permitted where the law states that the exception is possible.
Weserthy said:
Based on the law he may not be the godparent but canon laws are more like canon suggestions and are routinely ignored or exceptions are freely given. It just depends on who the priest is, so you might as well try.
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This is quite troubling.
 
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