Do you need to be Catholic to be a God Parent and what are their true responsibilities?

Question

Why do cult members confuse God parenting with custody of the child upon the death of both parents? My understanding is they’re only responsible for the child’s Religious education (AKA cult Indoctrination) Are Catholic Cult members really that stupid to ask a non-Catholic to be a godparent and or is the Church that stupid to let this happen.

Is the feel good Ceremony/party more important than its meaning to cult members?

Cult=religion sorry

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cult

Isn't possible parental custody determined by a lawyer in a legal document such as a Will and not a meaningless cermony performed by a priest?

Answer 1

Yes, godparents need to be Catholic.

The role of the godfather and/or godmother is very important. They must be firm Catholic believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized—child or adult—on the road of Christian life.

To ensure this, a godparent must be at least 16 years old (for maturity's sake), fully initiated (having received Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist), be someone other than the legal parents, and one who leads a life in harmony with the Church.

If you have only one Catholic godparent, then you may have a non-Catholic participate as an official witness. The witness will be responsible for setting a good example for the baptized person while the Catholic godparent will share the specifics of the Catholic faith.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Whether or not you need to be Catholic to be a God Parent depends on the church. Also, being a God Parent is not just a catholic thing. My husband and I are God Parents and we are definitely NOT Catholic (nor are our God Daughters for that matter). Their (the God Parent's) role depends on the child's parents. Some do get custody of the children if anything happens to the parents. In most cases though they are just responsible for the child (ren)'s religious upbringing if anything happens to the parents. Often, it is just a way for the parents to honor a family member or close friend. If the family is Catholic and the God Parent-to-be is not, this often is smoothed over with a donation of some sort.

Answer 3

First of all, Catholicism is NOT a cult. Read your dictionary. But yes, you probably do need to be Catholic to be a godparent. It's an ancient system set up because so many Christians were killed in the early years, that sometimes children were left without their parents. This was the setup they used, as American law was not yet in force.

Doh!

Answer 4

O_o Aside from being slighly offended at the idea of my religion being called a cult...*Sigh.*

Some people don't truly understand that yes, the purpose of the godparents is to aid the parents and the Church in the spiritual upbringing of the child. In my attendance of the CHurch pre-Baptism class, we were urged to seek out those we feel would be the most suited for that task, nothing more.

However, under the circumstances of a truly believing couple, the likelihood should coincide that the people most fit to spiritually raise your child would also be the ones most likely to raise your child as you would in your abscecnce, the essential trait of a guardian after parental death. For example, until I turned 18, my godparents (also my aunt & uncle) were to be my legal guardians in the event of my mother's death. She had chosen them to be godparents as they were best suited to aid my religious upbringing, and were subsequently deemed suitible enough to care formy entire upbringing should the need have arisen.

Ideally, such a balance should be sought. However, with less and less people truely practicing their Catholic faith, I fear where the decision process may be leading.

Answer 5

Catholicism is not a cult, have some respect. Non-Catholics can be the Child's god parent but my god parent was not in charge of my religious education, they were the person who would take custody of me if my parents died. I have a sponsor for confirmation that was instructed to help with religious education and they HAD to be Catholic.

Answer 6

you don;t have to be a certain religion to be a god parent. It doesn;t matter.
I have 6 GOD PARENTS...and in that mix...there's a buddist a baptist. ,an aethiest and catholics. It doesn't really matter.
I never saw being a catholic as a cult. That[s not nice. i'm catholic.It's a religion. waco,tx people were a cult. witches and devil worshipers have cults.
How is it there responsability. It's the childs parents responsability to teach their child right from wrong.And the god parents duty is to take care of the child if the parents die. somethign like that.

Answer 7

Canon 874 of the Code of Canon Law states that the office of sponsor—or godparent as it is traditionally known—must be filled by a Catholic who has been confirmed and has received the Eucharist. He must be at least sixteen years old and live a life of faith that befits the role of godparent.

A non-Catholic may serve as what is known as a "Christian witness" at the baptism in order to be involved in the ceremony, but he may not be a godparent.

Answer 8

Well, in the Catholic Church Baptism is the first sacrament, followed by First Communion and Confirmation. Something along those lines. It must be more of a feel good thing, because I have seen plenty of Baptisms where the Godparents weren't Cathoilc. I actually saw one where the Godfather wasn't even Christian!
Oh, I would love your input on my question!
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060711080702AASDCjP&r=w

Answer 9

Well, it may have started with the Catholic Church, but when my best friend had her kids, it was on some papers she filled out while in the hospital. I'm a God-Mother to 9 children... all of these children are "Protestant" families...and I'm Pagan. I think today it is just a means of securing the children if they lose their parents rather than being a teacher of religion....

Answer 10

wow, you need a learnin!
the job of a god parent is to take care of the children if both mom and dad die.
you do not need to be catholic and, in fact, don't have to have any religious affiliation to be a god parent. it's an arrangement made by the natural parents and by the people they choose to be god parents.
also, it has nothing to do with being in a cult, although, Most assuredly, cult members could have god parents also.