In NY, can your mom be your confirmation sponsor?

[ThomasKabel]

I want to choose my mom as my sponsor. Is this allowed?

 

[Phemie]

No, a parent may not be a sponsor. Any other properly disposed relative may be.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

A good idea would be to ask one of your Godparents to be your sponsor.

After all, they agreed when you were Baptised.

Jim

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’m just curious, when did this rule start? My mother was my sponsor and many others in my class had a parent as sponsor.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

The relevant portion of the Canon Law chapter on Confirmation:

SPONSORS
Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.

Can. 893 §1. To perform the function of sponsor, a person must fulfill the conditions mentioned in can. 874.

§2. It is desirable to choose as sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism.

And the referenced Canon 874 (emphasis mine):

Can. 874 §1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:

1/ be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;

2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;

3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;

4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;

5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

So once again, has this always been in the canon law, or was it added in the last revision?

And assuming it’s always been there, then why does it seem to have been widely ignored in some places back in my day?

 

[Phemie]

So once again, has this always been in the canon law, or was it added in the last revision?

And assuming it’s always been there, then why does it seem to have been widely ignored in some places back in my day?

When I was involved with that sacrament we used to tell the parents that a parent could “present” their child for Confirmation if they’d chosen a sponsor who couldn’t be present but they couldn’t be the sponsor. In fact, I think that may have come from the Confirmation Rite we were using. I’ll have to check that.

For my own Confirmation I remember no such thing as a sponsor. The registers I’ve seen from my birth parish had one woman as sponsor for all the girls and one man as sponsor for all the boys. But I haven’t seen anything past 1920 so I don’t know if things had changed in my parish in the intervening 41 years.

 

[Pitcairn17]

The relevant portion of the Canon Law chapter on Confirmation:

SPONSORS
Can. 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.

Your #5 specifies BAPTISM. The question was regarding Confirmation. I’m aware of numerous circumstances in our diocese where parents have been Confirmation sponsors.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

The Canon is clear about Confirmation if you read it; there are specifics for Confirmation to be met PLUS all the conditions of sponsors for Baptism, hence why it’s quoted above (and referenced in the law itself).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

When I was involved with that sacrament we used to tell the parents that a parent could “present” their child for Confirmation if they’d chosen a sponsor who couldn’t be present but they couldn’t be the sponsor.

That was kind of the situation with me. I wanted my favorite cousin to be the sponsor, but he was living several hours away out of state and couldn’t come. He was touched to be asked though. So I had my mother for my sponsor or presenter or whatever.
If the job of the sponsor is to make sure the person is well mentored in the faith then I owe that pretty much to her anyway.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Some places wink at the law.

 

[Pitcairn17]

The Canon is clear about Confirmation if you read it; there are specifics for Confirmation to be met PLUS all the conditions of sponsors for Baptism, hence why it’s quoted above (and referenced in the law itself).

Based on my copy of the “New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law,” it is just not as clear as you claim. The Commentary cites the fact that the “Rite of Confirmation” clearly states “Even the parents themselves may present their children for Confirmation.” The Commentary does go on to point out that Canon 893 refers back to Canon 873 in terms of sponsor qualification (p. 1090 of the Commentary), however, it is also pointed out that the discrepancy between the Canon and the Rite was brought to the attention of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 1984. That body issued the following clarification:

“…it is clear that parents and the godparents exercise different functions in the sacrament of confirmation. For this reason parents may present their children according to the indicated rubric, even though they cannot be admitted to the function of godparent …”

Finally, the “Commentary” goes on to state (p. 1092) “The contradiction between the code and the Rite has given rise to a doubt of law (dubium iuris) regarding the current law that governs the possibility of parents serving as sponsors at their children’s confirmations. Thus, one is free to interpret the Rite as allowing parents to act as sponsors of their children until an authoritative interpretation resolves the conflict.”

It is my understanding that no such authoritative statement has appeared in the “Acta Apostolicae Sedis,” which would be required. Unless such has so been published recently.

 

[ZemD]

Thomas do you have a catholic grandparent?

I was confirmed in NY state about 10 years ago and we could not pick our parent, but grandparents were allowed.

I did not have any practicing cathoic cousins, aunts, uncles, and unfortunately my godparents were also not practicing Catholics anymore either. All of my Catholic friends were my age and being confirmed that day with me.

 

[Phemie]

I don’t know what remains unclear after the response from the CDW.

 

[pulchraesamicamea]

My mom was not Catholic (but a proud candidate starting her catechism classes) and she was all the way in Korea. MY RCIA director suggested a wonderful lady as a sponsor, whom I chose.

 

[Horton]

A parent may be a confirmation sponsor, however it is not recommended.

5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.

The above quote is related to a baptism sponsor only.