Now I have a question for the Catholics...

AshleyC0117 · January 2012

So the other post got me thinking... do the god parents you choose have to both be Catholic? I'm definitely choosing my brother (Catholic) for the godfather but we're unsure about the godmother. DH has a sister and she is not Catholic and also not at all religious. My best friend (MOH at my wedding, etc) is Catholic but she is marrying a Jewish man and planning on raising her kids Jewish. I do have another friend who is Catholic who I can choose and I feel comfortable that she'd be great for the job.

Me and my husband are moderately religious. We go to church most Sundays and we plan on raising our children to go to church and sunday school, etc.

I guess my question is... should we choose my SIL as a formality? Or should I take the role of godparent more seriously and choose an actual practicing Catholic. WWYD?

bellablue2 · January 2012

Well I am Protestant, not Catholic, but I am a godparent in the Catholic church to a cousin of my husbands. I am very religious though. I would say go with whomever you feel would do the best job.

TKx2 · January 2012

We only had to have one be Catholic. DD's godparents are SIL (Catholic), my sister (not), and my BIL (not). Technically, in the church's eyes, my sister and BIL are her sponsors, not godparents.

stephlas8 · January 2012

THe official standing of the church is that one of the godparents is the actual "sponsor" so that could be your brother and choose whoever you want for the godmother. I'm an actively practicing Catholic (youth minister at our church) and the godparents we have chosen are a good couple friend of ours. My friend Anna is a practicing Catholic and her boyfriend/fiance is Presbyterian.

IMO, godparents are a HUGE deal and I wanted to choose people that I knew were good examples in living their faith in their lives rather than the technically Catholic kind of godparents. Anna and Davis are fun, down to earth people that I know will help DH and me teach our daughter to be a well rounded Catholic Christian rather than just a great Catholic.

blackbird01 · January 2012

My church does not allow someone who is not Catholic to be an actual godparent. We had originally wanted my brother and my DH's cousin to be DS's godparents, and while DH's cousin would have been allowed to stand and witness the baptism, she would not have been listed as an actual godparent (there was another term for it, but I can't remember it) because she's not Catholic. We ended up going with just my brother since you're only required to have one godparent. I'm not sure what we're going to do for this LO.

jrichards1 · January 2012

DH and I just finished our baptism class at our church. Here's what we learned and is apparently "Catholic Law":

At least one godparent must be catholic. The other godparent can be a "Christian Witness," but that means they have to have been baptised in a Christian faith and must be a member of a Christian church. They can't just be a bad catholic. They also must be the opposite sex of the godparent.

To have an actual godparent, the godparent must get a Certificate of Eligibility from their church to give to your church. This proves that they are registered parishoners somewhere, received ALL sacraments (baptism, communion and confirmation) and if they were married, they were married by a catholic priest - this one blew me away and I think is complete BS.

My sister is voluntarily going through confirmation classes right now just so that she can be our baby's godmother. I wouldn't have blamed her one bit had she said "screw that."

That being said, we thought of our godparents in the same way we thought of potential guardians for our wills. Who do you respect and trust to step in when you and your spouse are gone to pass down the morals and beliefs that you guys want your child to have? We also wanted to be sure that those people will be in our kid's life now and in the future (DH's godmother was a friend of his mom's who he has never even met). The church makes you go through a lot to make a baptism happen. Don't feel like you have to select someone out of obligation or formality.

dixee.deluxe · January 2012

I'm not Catholic. But I was raised Catholic. DD was baptized Catholic with my mother as her sponsor. Just to get that all out there.

Mom's Church is super strict. The two godparents have to be a man and a woman. But only one has to be Catholic.

TrendyTina · January 2012

I'm Catholic. In my church only one of the godparents MUST be Catholic. The other can be Christian.

Aprilsies · January 2012

Only one has to be Catholic but the other has to be at least baptized.

JSweetieXO · January 2012

You would have to ask the priest at your church since they all require different things.

Eilis123 · January 2012

One must be a practicing Catholic. They will have to provide documentation of that.

The other is a Christian Witness and must be validly baptized (ie. baptized in the name of the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit", which excludes Mormons and some evangelicals and pentacostals) and practicing in their own faith.

Depending on the parish, the Christian Witness may have to show some proof of church membership or active practice (such as a note from their pastor). This varies according to parish.

Talk to your parish priest about the particular requirements at your parish.

Moneypenny424 · January 2012

I am godmother to two Catholic little boys and am not Catholic (I'm Protestant). In both cases, the godfathers are Catholic.

creamsiclechica · January 2012

Like PP's said, it does seem differ according to your diocese. In Philadelphia, where I'm from, when it came time for my my sister and BIL to baptize my nephew, BOTH godparents had to be Catholic in order to be a part of the ceremony and to be recorded as official. To stand for my nephew, I had to provide a Letter of Consent from my parish, showing that I had been active in the church leading up to the baptism. The other person was raised Catholic, but switched to a Lutheran church, so he wasn't permitted by my sister's parish to participate and she just included him in the get together afterward and in name only.

BigAppleBiggerBelly · January 2012

Can I piggyback with a Catholic question of my own? Do both parents have to be Catholic or baptized to have your child baptized Catholic?

I ask because DH is Catholic (non-practicing but managing the guilt and hell-fear nonetheless) and he wants our baby to be baptized "just to be safe." I do not want to do this. I'm not baptized or the equivalent in any faith, and I'm an atheist. Any chance the church won't allow it because of my status? Pretty please?

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