Protestant Godfather?

[Sacredheart1208]

Hello!

I have a question concerning Godparents. Before I became Catholic my family choose a close friend to be my Godfather, at the time we were both Protestants. A year or so later I chose to convert to Catholicism. My Godfather was present at my Conditional Baptism, at the time I did not know my Godfather would have to be Catholic. I am very confused now and don’t want to disobey Church teaching. Is he my Godfather or is he not? He still remains Protestant but isn’t practicing. I would really appreciate a response, this has been weighing heavily on my mind lately.

God bless!

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

I’m not exactly sure what happened in your situation or what Protestant community you came from. Conditional baptism should only take place if there is actual doubt about the validity of a prior baptism, it should not be done as a “just in case.” If he was from that same faith community then his baptism would also have been in doubt and he would not have been able to act as even as Christian witness without valid baptism.

So your situation is rather confusing on several fronts. However, I would advise you to just let the matter go. You can’t put toothpaste back in the tube, as they say. You obviously are now validly baptized and that is the most important thing. No good is going to come from worrying about whether proper procedure was followed for sponsors. You can simply find a Catholic mentor or friend who can advise you on living your faith in the Church.