Help With Baptism, Please!

[ECK143]

Hi,

I am writing because I have a question.

I am wondering if the father of my daughter, on her birth certificate, does not want the godfather I have chosen, is there anyway he can stop the Baptism of my daughter??? And if he is not on my son’s birth certificate, but is his father, does he have any say in who i choose as godfather for my son???

The man i chose for their godfather is a devout Catholic and a good man, their father is just angry at him. He has no good reason for not wanting this man, his own brother, as the godfather. So I am worried that he can stop the Baptism.

Thanks so much for reading this and answering my questions.

 

[down_under]

I won’t mention all the circles my mind made as I read this thread. This is not a good, situation in the first place, but to answer your question in a word NO. If this fool did not have the integrity to stick around long enough to claim his baby then he has no rights what so ever. technically he does not even have visitation rights.

 

[ECK143]

I won’t mention all the circles my mind made as I read this thread. This is not a good, situation in the first place, but to answer your question in a word NO. If this fool did not have the integrity to stick around long enough to claim his baby then he has no rights what so ever. technically he does not even have visitation rights.

So he can in no way stop either Baptism??? I am scared he has a say or can stop them.

And yeah, if I told the whole story you would be dizzy with all of the circles!!!

Thanks for answering!

 

[FrDavid96]

As long as at least one parent consents to the baptism, and the pastor is satisfied that there is a founded hope that the child will be raised in the faith, one parent cannot “prevent” the baptism. That’s the canon law. There is obviously a lot more to this, which is no doubt of a more private nature.

If both parents are presenting the child for baptism, then both have to agree (or at least come to some compromise) on the Godparents–this isn’t so much a matter of canon law as it is just common sense. However, if only one parent is seeking baptism, and the other parent is not involved in the process, then that other parent cannot prevent the baptism on account of the choice of Godparents. If the father’s only involvement would be to prevent the baptism because of the choice of Godparents, then that can’t happen. But the father is raising the chilren just as much as the mother, it’s not that simple.

If the father has legal custody, though, he does have as much of a right to choose Godparents as the mother. The child has a right to be baptised, and the parents have the obligation to have the child baptised. But neither has more right than the other to choose the Godparents, unless something else prevents one parent from making that choice.