My 3 children were baptized the Godfather is Catholic and the Godmother is non-catholic. No questions were asked and now since my 4th child has been baptized the same Godparents were used, and now since I am asking for a ceritficate a red flag has come up and telling me that I can't use the Godmother as a Godparent because of not being Catholic. Now I'm trying to figure out why did the priest tell me that it was fine and now the record keepers are telling me it's not. And I'm trying to find some proof somewhere on the internet who is right and who is wrong. (Hopefully something that can back my priest up so I can settle this matter, since we no longer are at the same parish)
2007-10-09 10:16:38 · 6 answers · asked by sugarandspice 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Godmother, if not Catholic is called a Christian Witness.
Godparents are Catholic. You may have two Godparents/Christian witnesses, but they must be of opposite Gender.
Only ONE is required to be Catholic.
Point is- they are promising to aid you in raising your children in the Catholic faith. How can they do that if they are not Catholic.
2007-10-09 11:37:33 · answer #1 · answered by Mommy_to_seven 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually only one Godparent is necessary. You can have one godfather, one godmother, or one of each.
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 baptized non-Catholic Christian 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.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1255: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2.htm
and the Code of Canon law, Canon 872 and following: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P2Y.HTM
With love in Christ.
2007-10-09 17:48:09 · answer #2 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was baptized as a Catholic and neither of my godparents are Catholic. I guess I'm not sure what the official ruling is but it seems like bureaucracy at work to me.
2007-10-09 10:22:35 · answer #3 · answered by Inigo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Godparents must be practicing Catholics. The non-catholic is considered a "witness". There is a very good article about Godparents at http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0497.asp
2007-10-09 10:25:10 · answer #4 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
both Godparents should be Roman Catholic, since they are promising to assist in raising the child in the Church and you can't really do that if you aren't a member of the Church.
2007-10-09 10:21:19 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
if someone is ignorant of the catholic faith, they can't teach it. the record keepers and the priest should have told you that that was not right.
2007-10-09 10:27:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋