W
White_Peony
Guest
They’ve been Protestent even when I was baptized! Is this even permitted to choose Protestants to be your kid’s Godparents?
- Status
A
aussiemel
Guest
yes they are allowed here but are called christian witness instead of godparents
J
JGMendes4049
Guest
But it’s required to have one or two Catholic godparents, I believe.
1
1ke
Guest
Only a Catholic may be a baptismal sponsor. A non-Catholic may be a Christian witness to the baptism, but only together with a Catholic sponsor.
Sponsors are not *absolutely *required, so this does not affect the validity of your baptism.
Sponsors are not *absolutely *required, so this does not affect the validity of your baptism.
W
White_Peony
Guest
So, technically I don’t have godparents.
S
Sacred_Heart_1
Guest
I just read the Catholic rites on Baptism about a week ago and no you can’t have Godparents other than Catholics.
Did they pretend they were Catholic when you were baptized?
D
DihydrogenOxide
Guest
Think of it this way, at least yours believe in God. Mine don’t.
B
Bob_Aliano
Guest
One Godparent must be Catholic.
C
Chatter163
Guest
If they were Protties at the time of your baptism, then it is unfortunate that your parish did not do its homework in this regard. Most parishes that I know ask for a letter from the potential sponsor’s pastor, plus asks the potential sponsors to attend a one-time class. However, this failure to exercise due diligence does not invalidate the rite of baptism in any way,
M
markomalley
Guest
Baptism:
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.
Confirmation:
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.
ONE of the Godparents could be Protestant, provided the other was a baptized, confirmed, practicing Catholic. Likewise for confirmation.
Keep in mind that not all Protestants are validly baptized; just because somebody is Protestant does not mean that they are suitable to be even ONE of the Godparents (along with a Catholic).
K
Kerry77
Guest
Don’t worry about this. Not your problem, especially since I am assuming you were baptized as a baby/child. It’s the problem of the priest who performed the baptism perhaps, or your parents. You are baptized.
M
Matthew_Holford
Guest
Are they definitely the only ones? I suppose technically they’re not your godparents because they weren’t qualified to be them. However, having godparents isn’t a requirement for validity. You’re baptism’s validity isn’t affected by this. I wonder how this happened?
S
Suslar
Guest
Is it possible that there were other Catholics in attendance at your Baptism? For instance, your parents? other relatives? If so, you can ask one or two of these people to be Catholic mentors to you as they were valid witnesses to your Baptism…
D
domandcarols
Guest
P
Phemie
Guest
I know how it happened, the priest assumed the parents knew that only Catholics could be godparents so he didn’t ask the crucial question. I saw that happen in our parish when one pastor was less than deligent when meeting with parents.
P
Phemie
Guest
I know how it happened, the priest assumed the parents knew that only Catholics could be godparents so he didn’t ask the crucial question and neither did anyone else involved in the parents’ preparation. I saw that happen in our parish when one pastor was less than deligent when meeting with parents for baptismal preparation.
T
thistle
Guest
Just to be clear when you say one Godparent must be Catholic I hope you don’t mean a second Godparent does not have to be Catholic because that would be incorrect.
A non-Catholic cannot be a Godparent. A validly baptised non-Catholic Christian can be a Christian witness at a Catholic baptism but cannot be a Godparent.
M
Matthew_Holford
Guest
I’m sure we knew what they meant: a minimum of one sponsor who must be a Catholic.
P
Phemie
Guest
You would think they understand but I know that’s the hardest thing to get across when we do baptismal preparation. I’ve finally just said, look, you are free to call the non-Catholic person anything you want but the Church will not call them a godparent.
In our parish they show up on the certificate of baptism and in the register (that’s what has people so confused “but the certificate says…”) but in what was the Cathedral parish until our former diocese was suppressed they don’t even show up in the records.
W
White_Peony
Guest
Nope, Mom just told th priest they were good people although not Catholic, and he was apparently ok with it.
- Status