How do I select godparents?

[michaelflynn]

My wife and I are expecting our first child in about four months. We will be having him baptized as a newborn and we are trying to find godparents. We just do not have many Catholic friends, ones who are faithful to all of the Church’s teachings, which we will insist on. We don’t really have family who fit that bill, either. We are good friends with an older couple we attend church with, and we thought they would be perfect. But they are in their early seventies. Is age something we should really be concerned with? They are both in good health, and we don’t see them going anywhere anytime soon. But, we realize that being a godparent, when taken seriously, may involve many years of involvement in that child’s faith life. We’re pretty stuck on what to do. Thanks for your help.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Ordinarily, you should seek to find godparents who are young enough to reasonably be expected to be around throughout the child’s childhood, especially since the baptismal godparents are the first choice as candidates for confirmation sponsor years from now. If you have no other option, you could ask this couple to be the child’s godparents, but I urge you to seek out other possibilities first. You might ask either this couple or your pastor if they know of anyone who might meet the requirements of godparenthood and be willing to take on the task.

It should be noted though that the death of a godparent, while tragic, does not remove that person’s influence in the child’s life. The child could be taught to pray for the repose of the godparent’s soul, and to look upon the godparent as a special intercessor who we hope is in a position to make the child’s needs known directly to God in a way not possible in this life.