SMHW:
As I understand the Church provides no means to replace Godparents officially. . . .
And obviously parents can designate anyone they want to care for their children if they die. That’s not the point of Godparents anyway.
True, the sponsors at the time of baptism become part of the official record as established fact. They have already discharged the duty of presenting, with the parents, the child for baptism, and that fact has been recorded(c. 872§1).
After baptism, sponsors are to help the baptized person lead a Christian life in keeping with it and being faithful to its obligations (c. 872§2). They are not seen as having any role beyond that, though, civilly, the parents might be able to designate them as guardians of the child(ren) if they should die or become incapacitated. But that point is for a civil lawyer to address.
Exercising the office of parents, which is a true state in the Church, parents can certainly designate others for the duty of canon 872§2. But that would not recorded in the baptismal registry. Only things that affect the legal status of a person in the Church are, such as the completion of initiation by confirmation and “first” Communion, admission to the clerical state, marriage and nullity of marriage, entrance into consecrated life. Changes and notations apart from those would usually only be made upon the direction of the diocesan chancellor according to diocesan law.
(There are, by the way, special norms regarding adoptions that are most illustrative of that. They can be seen at the USCCB website by viewing
usccb.org/norms/877-3.htm.)
In the case of the new certificate issued by the Archdiocese for the Military, there might be a practice approved by its archbishop to enter the names of the “new godparents” as notations in the registry with the instruction to issue certificates for souvenir (rather than canonical) purposes under those names rather than those who served as sponsors at the baptism. One would have to check on diocesan practice or law through the parish priest.
In light of the situation, perhaps a priest or deacon after listening to parents in this kind of situation, might assist in planning a celebration within the family and an adaptation of one of the blessings for families in the Book of Blessings, to provide an informal means of ritualizing and acknowledging that these special people will be assisting the child(ren) in their walk of Christian discipleship. However, the parents could create some kind of prayerful celebration for that purpose without the presence of a priest or deacon as well. There could be scripture, prayer, and a statement of promise by the “new godparents” which is accepted by the parents, e.g.
First though, I would recommend discussing and evaluating the suitability of these possibilities with the parish priest. This could also be the course of action in the case in which the original sponsors are separated by distance. Clearly there, it would more a case of adding to the community that supports the journey of faith than of making a substitution, since the original sponsors would continue their assistance by prayer.
