Minimum age to be a godmother

[Tamsulosin]

Can a 15 year old be a godmother to a just born baby?
Having few appropriate relatives for that important position, and being this young lady
a good candidate,can she be chosen in spite of her age?

 

[Phemie]

Can a 15 year old be a godmother to a just born baby?
Having few appropriate relatives for that important position, and being this young lady
a good candidate,can she be chosen in spite of her age?

The usual age is 16 but the Pastor can give permission for younger for a good reason.

 

[lauraabarlow]

I was 12 years old when I became my neice’s godmother (in 1978 in Ohio). Looking back, I think I was a little too young-my neice is doing well and everything-she was born in July 1978 and August she was baptized, with me as her godmother. I was surprised that I was allowed to be her godmother at that time-and wished I have done more to be a good catholic role model for her, although I was attending catholic schools and everything. I am now a divorce, single mother raising my kids in the catholic faith.

 

[SeaShoreGirl]

i have always heard that its 14 or after confirmation. 16 isn’t a “church” age

 

[xihha]

Can a 15 year old be a godmother to a just born baby?
Having few appropriate relatives for that important position, and being this young lady
a good candidate,can she be chosen in spite of her age?

when my daughter was baptised last year i asked about my sister being godmother (she was 12 at the time) and my parish priest said that there is no minimum age but that he would prefer that the godmother was old enough/mature enough to be confirmed, so i think it depends on your priest and if you think that she is old enough and the best person for it.

 

[SonCatcher]

It is not necessary that a godparent be a relative. If the parents can’t initially think of a person qualified to be a godparent (I suppose it might be embarrassing to ask the person next to you in the pew, mightn’t it), they can ask the pastor for advice.

 

[odile53]

For the baptismal rite itself, I’d like to recommend that one takes care that the young adolescent in question is actually strong enough to hold a baby, particularly if the baby is big or really squirmy. I was asked to be a godmother at age fifteen. I was in a vocational ballet school at the time. Skinny. Really skinny. Strong lower body, arms not so much. I started to drop my fifteen pound, very active godchild into the font, and only the quick grab by the priest kept her from being baptized by immersion, which would have been a wet and crying shame, especially considering her ornate embroidered satin christening dress! Father took one look at me, and handed her to her godfather (to my embarrassment and relief!)

Not exactly liturgical, of course. Just practical.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Canon Law seems to specify 16 and confirmed, but with exceptions.

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.
§2. A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community is not to participate except together with a Catholic sponsor and then only as a witness of the baptism.

 

[Phemie]

when my daughter was baptised last year i asked about my sister being godmother (she was 12 at the time) and my parish priest said that there is no minimum age but that he would prefer that the godmother was old enough/mature enough to be confirmed, so i think it depends on your priest and if you think that she is old enough and the best person for it.

Canon Law says 16 but says that younger may be allowed. On the other hand, Confirmation is not optional: to be a sponsor one must be Catholic, baptized, confirmed, have received Communion and be living a Catholic life.

My own godparents were 10 & 12 back in '53. Different Code of Canon Law.

 

[Phemie]

For the baptismal rite itself, I’d like to recommend that one takes care that the young adolescent in question is actually strong enough to hold a baby, particularly if the baby is big or really squirmy. I was asked to be a godmother at age fifteen. I was in a vocational ballet school at the time. Skinny. Really skinny. Strong lower body, arms not so much. I started to drop my fifteen pound, very active godchild into the font, and only the quick grab by the priest kept her from being baptized by immersion, which would have been a wet and crying shame, especially considering her ornate embroidered satin christening dress! Father took one look at me, and handed her to her godfather (to my embarrassment and relief!)

Not exactly liturgical, of course. Just practical.

It is not a requirement that the godmother hold the child for Baptism. In fact, the parents are the ones presenting the child and I would expect Mom or Dad to do that. I know different cultures do different things but I’ve never seen anyone but a parent do that at any baptism I’ve witnessed in the last 12 years.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

It is not a requirement that the godmother hold the child for Baptism. In fact, the parents are the ones presenting the child and I would expect Mom or Dad to do that. I know different cultures do different things but I’ve never seen anyone but a parent do that at any baptism I’ve witnessed in the last 12 years.

As I recall, many years back baptisms were quite soon after birth and the mother frequently was often insufficiently recovered from the birth experience to be able to attend.

 

[Phemie]

For the baptismal rite itself, I’d like to recommend that one takes care that the young adolescent in question is actually strong enough to hold a baby, particularly if the baby is big or really squirmy. I was asked to be a godmother at age fifteen. I was in a vocational ballet school at the time. Skinny. Really skinny. Strong lower body, arms not so much. I started to drop my fifteen pound, very active godchild into the font, and only the quick grab by the priest kept her from being baptized by immersion, which would have been a wet and crying shame, especially considering her ornate embroidered satin christening dress! Father took one look at me, and handed her to her godfather (to my embarrassment and relief!)

Not exactly liturgical, of course. Just practical.

As I recall, many years back baptisms were quite soon after birth and the mother frequently was often insufficiently recovered from the birth experience to be able to attend.

I know that Mom was not there for any of our baptisms but women aren’t kept indoors for 40 days anymore. They haven’t been in decades. Many moms are back in church with week-old babies.

 

[odile53]

Oh, this baptism was definitely in an ethnic group; the family is from my father’s side of the family, and had immigrated from Italy six months before my goddaughter was born.

I’ve been to other baptisms since, and I’ve seen different involved people hold the baby–a parent or a godparent. I’m sure it doesn’t matter who does liturgically, but with this group, the godmother was most definitely expected to do so. Definitely a cultural thing. I hadn’t met them prior to the weekend (they live four states away,) that the sacrament was conferred, and when they met me, their first remark was, “so skinny?” (I got used to hearing that most of my life!) Plus, I don’t think I had ever held a really small baby before that weekend. I’d picked up toddlers, to be sure, but there just weren’t any tiny ones in my immediate family (my sister is four years younger than me, and I certainly wasn’t expected to hold her when she was an infant.) At that age, if you have half a dozen or so ladies admonishing you not to drop the baby, plus you’re skin and bones yourself, it can be a pretty intimidating experience!

None of what I had to say has any liturgical significance whatsoever, and in no way impacts the sacrament. I’m just saying that if someone chooses to have a very young godmother, make sure the poor kid has some idea what to do with a baby!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I know that Mom was not there for any of our baptisms but women aren’t kept indoors for 40 days anymore. They haven’t been in decades. Many moms are back in church with week-old babies.

I have heard a few mourn the loss of that excuse to take some time off.

 

[Wesley7]

[No message]

 

[thistle]

Frankly, asking a young person (posters have mentioned 12 and 14 year olds) does not make any sense at all. Being a Godparent carries a lot of responsibilities and I do not believe people that age fully understand what is required of them.

 

[RCIA4]

In order to be a God mother you must be of the age, a respectable Southern lady from a decent family (the kind with money and a plantation!), with a living father who is of white Anglo-saxon christian blood, and who has lots of land… LOL

Boy that’s a lot of requirements

Good thing they aren’t real LOL