Great Granddaughters Baptism

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Our Great granddaughter was baptised yesterday (we did not attend ) in a Catholic Church. Our daughter and husband are her God parents ( I was shocked when I saw this on Facebook) neither of them are Catholic. Question: How can this happen?Has the church changed that much?

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sad11648 said:
Our Great granddaughter was baptised yesterday (we did not attend ) in a Catholic Church. Our daughter and husband are her God parents ( I was shocked when I saw this on Facebook) neither of them are Catholic. Question: How can this happen?Has the church changed that much?

Confused
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Welcome! 👋

I’m not entirely sure I understand your situation here, but the Catholic Church’s law (as spelled out in Canon Law) does require that any sponsor for Baptism (i.e. godparent) be (1) a practicing Catholic in good standing who has (2) received all three sacraments of initiation (3) is at least 16 years old, and (4) is not the mother or father of the one being baptized.

It is permissible for a non-Catholic Christian to fill the role of a second “Christian Witness”, but there still must be a Catholic sponsor/godparent.

If this didn’t happen in this instance, it’s not a matter of the Church changing but rather that someone, somewhere along the line, made an error in applying the law that governs these things. Or perhaps the couple informally designated them as “godparents” without the Church’s knowledge. Strictly speaking, godparents aren’t necessary for Baptism.
 
It could be that someone else filled in from the parish as Sponsors and your relatives are calling themselves the Godparents.
I would just call and ask them.
 
I’ve seen that happen in my parish and it was due to a lot of people assuming a lot of things.

The parents assumed that non-Catholic godparents were OK.
The priest assumed the parents knew the rules of the Church.
The priest didn’t ask if the godparents were Catholic.
Ergo the child really has no godparents.

That was corrected when they had a second child, although it took 4 years for them to get over the hurt at being told “Sorry, you need a Catholic godparent.” Because of their previous experience they thought we were making it up. It wasn’t until Canon 874 was published in the bulletin as part of a “Did you know?” series that they approached the Church again, the day after getting that bulletin, in fact.
 
We always ask for the Sacramental certificates of the sponsors. Problem solved.
 
Absent an emergency, I thought it was SOP to get a copy of the Baptismal and Confirmation certificates for sponsors of both Confirmation and Baptism. Indeed, when I had to provide a copy for my nephew’s confirmation I had the pleasure of seeing I was Baptized at 11 days old on my parents’ wedding anniversary - a detail I had theretofore failed to note.
 
johnnykins said:
Absent an emergency, I thought it was SOP to get a copy of the Baptismal and Confirmation certificates for sponsors of both Confirmation and Baptism. Indeed, when I had to provide a copy for my nephew’s confirmation I had the pleasure of seeing I was Baptized at 11 days old on my parents’ wedding anniversary - a detail I had theretofore failed to note.
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It is. At least in the U.S.
 
Seems to depend on the parish. I was never required to provide one when I was a godmother. Neither were my kids’ godparents. And we don’t require it in our parish. We probably should.
 
In my diocese, if the godparents are not a member of the parish, they must have a letter form their pastor stating they are practicing Catholics in good standing.
 
Right. There’s likely a document that speaks to this.
My pastor is adamant that he PERSONALLY is responsible for ensuring that the Sponsors are legit…as well as in RCIA and has been known to cancel a Baptism and fire an employee for no paperwork completed by the day.
 
Jeanne_S said:
That was my experience as well.
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Probably varies from place to place. My Godmother was not Catholic, and to my knowledge no one ever challenged her about it. And it wasn’t her parish obviously, or my fallen away-Catholic uncle’s either. But she most definitely acted as such during my baptism. Granted this was in the very early 80’s. My brother had a similar situation when he was baptized in the early 90’s, only in that case neither Godparent were even Catholic. And again no one questioned it.

And I’ve heard tell of many other similar situations where non-Catholics are indeed allowed to be the Godparents for a child undergoing a Catholic baptism.
 
Padres1969 said:
Probably varies from place to place. My Godmother was not Catholic, and to my knowledge no one ever challenged her about it. And it wasn’t her parish obviously, or my fallen away-Catholic uncle’s either. But she most definitely acted as such during my baptism. Granted this was in the very early 80’s. My brother had a similar situation when he was baptized in the early 90’s, only in that case neither Godparent were even Catholic. And again no one questioned it.

And I’ve heard tell of many other similar situations where non-Catholics are indeed allowed to be the Godparents for a child undergoing a Catholic baptism.
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Again, they were likely permitted to be the Christian witness. Many only are familiar with the term “godparent”. The actual Godparent is the Catholic one listed in the register.
When I make the certificates, I list “Christian Witness” under the Godparent.
Since most sponsors never see the certificate it’s only pertinent to the parents. And future pastors. Many times people have really treacherous paths with regard to “we HAVE to ask Aunt So & So or else there will be heck to pay”. This is how they get around it.
They let them feel like they participated and are the primary Godparents, but they also have a practicing Catholic present in the Baptism. The important thing is to have a proper sponsor, peace in the family and people praying for the child.
Pastors have to wade through all this mess. Most people have no idea. Pastor and Deacons do what they have to do to ensure that the rules are followed.
People who accuse “they weren’t even Catholic!” likely don’t know what they were gossiping about.
The priests know what they are doing, they really do.
 
It does vary. Not so much around here.
Christians are permitted to be the Christian witness. Many only are familiar with the term “godparent”. The actual Godparent is the Catholic one listed in the register.
When I make the certificates, I list “Christian Witness” under the Godparent.
Since most sponsors never see the certificate it’s only pertinent to the parents. And future pastors. Many times people have really treacherous paths with regard to “we HAVE to ask Aunt So & So or else there will be heck to pay”. This is how they get around it.
They let them feel like they participated and are the primary Godparents, but they also have a practicing Catholic present in the Baptism. The important thing is to have a proper sponsor, peace in the family and people praying for the child.
Pastors have to wade through all this mess. Most people have no idea. Pastor and Deacons do what they have to do to ensure that the rules are followed.
People who accuse “they weren’t even Catholic!” likely don’t know what they were gossiping about.
Today, the Godparents have to attend a class, so they are fully aware of the awesome responsibility they are taking. In the past, there was no such thing. Priests trusted parents to select well. Today, the Church is much more regulated.
 
One parish in my diocese doesn’t list the Christian witness on the certificate at all. I don’t think they even record them. You are told that from the get-go.

When our youngest was born ('84) I had heard that we now could have non-Catholic godparents. I asked the Padre and he said yes, it was OK for DH’s brother to be the godfather, even if he was a member of the United Church of Canada. No mention at the time of the difference between a sponsor and a Christian witness. I only found out about CWs 15+ years later.

Then I mentioned that he wouldn’t be attending and we’d need a proxy. The proxy was a member of the parish, but not much more to us than DH’s co-worker. BIL is still listed as godfather. I figure the Padre had his fingers crossed behind his back. 🙂
 
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