To be my sister's godmother for her confirmation next year

[zandre]

Hi, my sister’s 4 years younger than me and was baptized at birth. She’s getting confirmed next year.

When I was confirmed I had my godmother from baptism with me. However due to a irreconcilable falling out between my family and my sister’s godparents, I think my sister has to look for someone else to guide her through her rite of confirmation,

My question is, will it be appropriate for either my mother or me to be her godmother?

I would really appreciate any advice you may be able to give!

Many thanks in advance :]

 

[Phemie]

Hi, my sister’s 4 years younger than me and was baptized at birth. She’s getting confirmed next year.

When I was confirmed I had my godmother from baptism with me. However due to a irreconcilable falling out between my family and my sister’s godparents, I think my sister has to look for someone else to guide her through her rite of confirmation,

My question is, will it be appropriate for either my mother or me to be her godmother?

I would really appreciate any advice you may be able to give!

Many thanks in advance :]

You can be her sponsor but your mother, as the parent, cannot be. Parents can’t be sponsors for their own children at Baptism or Confirmation.

 

[NPC]

This is what the Catechism says about sponsors at Confirmation:

“1311: Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appropriate that this be one of the baptismal godparents.”

When my class was preparing to be confirmed, our teachers only spoke in terms of ‘sponsors’ - it actually didn’t seem to be a very important aspect of the sacrament, and I certainly don’t remember the teachers recommending that our Godparents were the most suitable choice of sponsor. My mother acted as my sponsor, which was rather a last-minute decision!

As your sister’s Godmother will most likely be unavailable to give any spiritual guidance she needs, then she clearly ought to look for an alternative sponsor. Even if one is in contact with ones Godparents it would be folly to choose them as sponsors if they have not been (or will not be) up to the job of giving the best possible spiritual guidance to the Confirmation candidate.

Normally, to become a child’s Godparent at Baptism one must have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. I presume the same would be required of a sponsor at Confirmation. As you yourself have been Confirmed, I don’t think there would be a problem with you acting as sponsor for your sister.

 

[NPC]

You can be her sponsor but your mother, as the parent, cannot be. Parents can’t be sponsors for their own children at Baptism or Confirmation.

Interesting - I just checked this in the Code of Canon Law, which I obviously broke by having my mother act as sponsor… I never knew this, and am amazed that nothing was ever said on the matter when I was being Confirmed! (I was Confirmed in 1996 - I presume Can. 874 wasn’t added only in the past decade!)…

Zandre, if you go to this link you can see the rules regarding the choice of sponsor.

 

[Phemie]

This is what the Catechism says about sponsors at Confirmation:

“1311: Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appropriate that this be one of the baptismal godparents.”

When my class was preparing to be confirmed, our teachers only spoke in terms of ‘sponsors’ - it actually didn’t seem to be a very important aspect of the sacrament, and I certainly don’t remember the teachers recommending that our Godparents were the most suitable choice of sponsor. My mother acted as my sponsor, which was rather a last-minute decision!

As your sister’s Godmother will most likely be unavailable to give any spiritual guidance she needs, then she clearly ought to look for an alternative sponsor. Even if one is in contact with ones Godparents it would be folly to choose them as sponsors if they have not been (or will not be) up to the job of giving the best possible spiritual guidance to the Confirmation candidate.

Normally, to become a child’s Godparent at Baptism one must have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. I presume the same would be required of a sponsor at Confirmation. As you yourself have been Confirmed, I don’t think there would be a problem with you acting as sponsor for your sister.

The Church allows parents to ‘present’ their child for Confirmation but does not consider them sponsors.

Often the terms godparent & sponsor are used interchangeably.

 

[NPC]

The Church allows parents to ‘present’ their child for Confirmation but does not consider them sponsors.

In my case, my mother was most certainly acting in the role of sponsor - she came up to the altar rails with the other sponsors, and placed her right hand on my right shoulder, which is the symbolic act performed by the sponsor.

Interestingly the Catholic Encyclopaedia on www.newadvent.org says the following about sponsors: “Except in case of necessity the baptismal godparent cannot serve as sponsor for the same person in confirmation. Where the opposite practice obtains, it should, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, 16 Feb., 1884, be gradually done away with. The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (1866) declared that each candidate should have a sponsor, or that at least two godfathers should stand for the boys and two godmothers for the girls (n. 253).” Perhaps this is a bit outdated, as it seems to go against the current norms for Confirmation…

 

[Phemie]

People always seem to fail to notice that that Encyclopedia dates back to 1917, long before Vat. II and the 1983 Code of Canon Law. I even wonder if it took into consideration the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

The Encyclopedia must have been worked on for at least a decade before publication; how much of the 1917 Code would they have had access to before publication?

 

[puzzleannie]

InInterestingly the Catholic Encyclopaedia on www.newadvent.org says the following about sponsors: “Except in case of necessity the baptismal godparent cannot serve as sponsor for the same person in confirmation. Where the opposite practice obtains, it should, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, 16 Feb., 1884, be gradually done away with. The Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (1866) declared that each candidate should have a sponsor, or that at least two godfathers should stand for the boys and two godmothers for the girls (n. 253).” Perhaps this is a bit outdated, as it seems to go against the current norms for Confirmation…

this is outdated and not to be used as a guide as all canon law was abrogated and replaced by th 1983 code

a parent may not be baptismal godparent or confirmation sponsor.