Sacramental sponsors or witnesses via video link?

[HomeschoolDad]

During the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying dilemmas, a lot of questions about virtual participation in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church have arisen.

I have wondered if participation by those who are not actually receiving the sacrament could be done virtually, for instance:

• Could baptismal sponsors be “present” by video link (such as Skype or Facetime on a smartphone)?
• What about confirmation sponsors?
• And what about the required witnesses to a marriage, or for that matter, the officiant himself? In the Latin Rite, the betrothed administer the sacrament to each other — the priest or deacon is only a witness.

We already have proxies for baptismal sponsors, when the “real” sponsor can’t be there. I’ve been one myself (summoned on short notice after Mass), and my son’s godmother had a proxy, as she lived in Poland and couldn’t come to the US.

 

[Mtatum1958]

That’s a good question. I heard a priest speaking to the need for the person(s) receiving the Sacrament to be physically present, but not about witnesses/sponsors.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I’ve been sponsor/godparent for people thousands of miles away. Someone simply stands proxy for you.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I’ve been sponsor/godparent for people thousands of miles away. Someone simply stands proxy for you.

Wonder if it would be a plan, then, to have both the proxy and the “real” sponsor on live video link (such as Skype) at the time of the baptism (or confirmation, or wedding)?

 

[TheLittleLady]

In our Diocese, baptisms only happen right now in emergency situations. Everything will resume as normal after that, so, I do not see the need to get it that complicated

 

[HomeschoolDad]

In our Diocese, baptisms only happen right now in emergency situations. Everything will resume as normal after that, so, I do not see the need to get it that complicated

I didn’t have in mind just the present social situation. I was thinking of general circumstances. Now that this technology exists, as long as it weren’t obtrusive and didn’t interfere with the ceremony, I think it would be a nice touch to allow a distant sponsor to “be there” via video link. Still have the proxy, to conform to canon law, but don’t deprive the “real” sponsor of the ceremony as it happens.

When our son was baptized, his godmother was in Poland and we had a proxy. I think she would have liked viewing it in live time and making the responses — while not fluent, she speaks English well enough to handle that. Smartphones were in their infancy back then and I think Skype was rudimentary at that time.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Now that we have a camera studio in every pocket, no reason the family cannot go live!

 

[SMHW]

There is no intrinsic reason why the actual sponsor for a baptism or confirmation couldn’t watch in real time while a proxy sponsor stands in for them.

But it would be up to the pastor to permit it. There are some who don’t even like family members taking photographs, let alone, live streaming.

What with all the live streaming going on right now, it might gain some acceptability where there wasn’t any before. I would think live streaming the Easter Vigil and parish confirmations may become the norm in the future.