I’m so frustrated I feel like I’m going to cry. Even though I left a voicemail on his personal extension about needing to talk to him about getting a sponsor certificate, the administrative assistant lady called me back (different lady than the one I talked to this morning) saying that all Father can do is sign a letter saying I’m a registered parishioner at the parish. I told her, I need something showing I have my sacraments, not a letter that I am registered there. She said they can’t do that since I didn’t have my sacraments there.
Even when I try to contact the priest directly, someone else calls me back. What am I supposed to do? Barge into his office? I don’t even know where it is.
Try this:
Take what I type at the end here and cut-and-paste it using a word processor. Add the details and print it out.
Take it to your own proper pastor and put it in his hand. In his hand. Do not mail it. Do not put it in his inbox. Do not slide it under his door. Do not give it to the secretary. Do not give it to the administrative assistant. Do not give it to the usher. Do not give it to the altar boy. Do not give it to the guy mowing the lawn. Put it in the hand of your own proper pastor. Put it in his hand.
Do not call on the phone and speak to the secretary or the administrative assistant or anyone else.
See him --your own proper pastor-- after Mass (NOT before) if you need to. Make sure you have a pen handy in case he doesn’t have one.
When you do this, say to him in these or similar words:
“Father: I have been asked to be a sponsor for [name and relationship]. Since the baptism is not at this parish, I need to provide a sponsor certificate to the pastor where the baptism is taking place. Yes, it is a Catholic parish, St. so-and-so, you might know it or you might know the pastor there. In any case, would you mind kindly signing this so that I can send it to them? I would really appreciate it. And by the way, if you don’t know Father so-and-so at that other parish, would you mind putting the parish seal on this, just to be on the safe side?”
This is how it should read:
This is to certify that
[name]
is a practicing Catholic in good standing at
[parish name] in [insert parish city]
and is qualified to be a sponsor
for the Sacrament of Baptism for
[insert infants name]
at the parish of
[insert baptismal parish]
[insert blank line for signature]
[insert blank line for printed name of priest]
given this [blank} day of [blank] 2012
Once you have it, get that to the pastor of the place of Baptism. Not the parish secretary. Not the lady who answers the phone. Not the usher or the altar boy or the little old lady selling raffle tickets for the quilted pillows. Get it to the pastor of the place where the baptism is going to happen.
Do NOT change the wording as I’ve typed it here. Do not add lines that say you were baptised on such a date, or when you were confirmed or what your marital status is or anything else. Do it just as written. If you try to add something else other than what I’ve typed it won’t work. Other than filling in the blanks, do not make any changes.
That’s about all I can do here on this end.
If you do it that way, it should work out.
If you don’t put it in the hand of your own proper pastor, and ask him to sign it, all I can say is that I tried.
I do wish you the best.
I hope this works out for you. Truly I do.
