Need Help

[Th0t]

My girlfriend’s niece wants to baptize her baby and she asked my girlfriend and I to be her Godparents but I’ve heard that only wedded couples in the Church can be Godparents or relatives.

Is there a document on this teaching of who is eligible for being Godparents?

 

[NHInsider]

Hi-
when my eldest was baptized my unmarried friend was her Godmother, and a friend from church was her Godfather even though he was married to someone else (who was also a friend and was fine with not being the Godmother). So the Godparents do not have to be married to one another.

Having said that, the family is asking the Godparents to help raise the child in the faith, and potentially if the two are a couple but not married their own relationship may not last, and that might deprive the child of one or both Godparents later. Still, my second child’s Godparents were a married couple, very devout and active in the Church - until a few years later when he abandoned his family and started a new life. So being married doesn’t guarantee the Godparents will be there, either . . .

Many parishes will require the Godparents to provide a letter from their home parish indicating that they are “qualified sponsors” which basically means “yes they are active Catholics” Minimal qualifications are that the sponsors must be at least 16, baptized themselves, and at least one must be a practicing Catholic. (Some places say “baptized and confirmed” but I’m not sure that’s actually required - also I am not sure whether these regulations are set at the diocesan, national or universal level.)

 

[thistle]

My girlfriend’s niece wants to baptize her baby and she asked my girlfriend and I to be her Godparents but I’ve heard that only wedded couples in the Church can be Godparents or relatives.

Is there a document on this teaching of who is eligible for being Godparents?

Canon Law on sponsors (godparents):

Can. 872 In so far as possible, a person being baptised is to be assigned a sponsor. In the case of an adult baptism, the sponsor’s role is to assist the person in christian initiation. In the case of an infant baptism, the role is together with the parents to present the child for baptism, and to help it to live a christian life befitting the baptised and faithfully to fulfil the duties inherent in baptism.

Can. 873 One sponsor, male or female, is sufficient; but there may be two, one of each sex.

Can. 874 §1 To be admitted to undertake the office of sponsor, a person must:

1° be appointed by the candidate for baptism, or by the parents or whoever stands in their place, or failing these, by the parish priest or the minister; to be appointed the person must be suitable for this role and have the intention of fulfilling it;

2° be not less than sixteen years of age, unless a different age has been stipulated by the diocesan Bishop, or unless the parish priest or the minister considers that there is a just reason for an exception to be made;

3° be a catholic who has been confirmed and has received the blessed Eucharist, and who lives a life of faith which befits the role to be undertaken;

4° not labour under a canonical penalty, whether imposed or declared;

5° not be either the father or the mother of the person to be baptised.

§2 A baptised person who belongs to a non-catholic ecclesial community may be admitted only in company with a catholic sponsor, and then simply as a witness to the baptism.