Godparents?

[Truth_Faith13]

I thought I had asked this question before, but cant find it in my subscribed threads. sorry if its just buried in the depths of the forums somewhere!

I think the Catholic Church works differently to the Church of England

If I understand correctly to be a Catholic Godparent you have to be a practicing Catholic however you can be a Christian Witness?

Are the roles of Godparents, Christian Witness different, do they say different promises at the Christening?

I think I read that one Godparent is enough but you can have two - one of each sex, is this the limit? I know friends who were christened in the CofE who have 6 Godparents - granted that might be a bit extreme.

Do the Christian Witness have to be an active member of a Church or is just baptism a requirement? (I know this might sound like a silly question, I come from a society where you pick your closest friends rather than who is actually a good Christian Witness)

Can non Catholics have their children christened Catholic?

None of this has an impact on me as yet since I have no children nor am I pregnant…but its good to know for future reference

 

[Allegra]

A priest has to have reason to believe that a cxhild will be raised in the faith before he will baptise a child. A godparent has to be a Catholic in good standing with the Church. A non-Catholic can serve as Christian witness. There can only be one of each gender.

 

[Phemie]

I thought I had asked this question before, but cant find it in my subscribed threads. sorry if its just buried in the depths of the forums somewhere!

I think the Catholic Church works differently to the Church of England

If I understand correctly to be a Catholic Godparent you have to be a practicing Catholic however you can be a Christian Witness?

A Christian witness is a baptized non-Catholic.

Are the roles of Godparents, Christian Witness different, do they say different promises at the Christening?

While they will usually both answer the questions asked, and while the Christian witness should surely model Christian living, the godparent is the one with the responsibilities of helping the parents raise the child in the Faith. That’s not to say that the Christian witness can’t do that too. I know that had I had my husband’s aunt as a Christian witness she would have been a far better role model than the godparents I chose and she would have made sure that they were raised as proper Catholics even though she was a member of the United Church.

I think I read that one Godparent is enough but you can have two - one of each sex, is this the limit? I know friends who were christened in the CofE who have 6 Godparents - granted that might be a bit extreme.

You again are correct that 1 is sufficient, but that if 2 are chosen they have to be 1 male, 1 female. Some families and cultural traditions will name more people as godparents but the Church only recognizes 2 at most.

Now I’ve been present at an Anglican Baptism and I know that the Anglican Book of Common Prayer ceremony of Baptism calls for up to 3 godparents (not 6), 2 godmothers, 1 godfather for a girl and 2 godfathers, 1 godmother for a boy.

Do the Christian Witness have to be an active member of a Church or is just baptism a requirement? (I know this might sound like a silly question, I come from a society where you pick your closest friends rather than who is actually a good Christian Witness)

Ideally they should be active members but I’ve never known us to ask for verification of that unlike, say, verifying that the Catholic godparent is living a properly Catholic life.

Can non Catholics have their children christened Catholic?

Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? Not unless there is a very good reason for the priest to believe that they will be raised Catholic.

None of this has an impact on me as yet since I have no children nor am I pregnant…but its good to know for future reference

Knowledge is never wasted.

 

[Truth_Faith13]

Now I’ve been present at an Anglican Baptism and I know that the Anglican Book of Common Prayer ceremony of Baptism calls for up to 3 godparents (not 6), 2 godmothers, 1 godfather for a girl and 2 godfathers, 1 godmother for a boy.

Thankyou for the information

Yes that is the standard “Church of a England” for godparents, but there is no set limit, it’s just a suggested number.