Sorry if this is totally the wrong catergory : )
Does anyone know whether we can baptise A in a Catholic ceremony without godparents? If we end up doing it in Toronto (all her family are in England/Spain) I'd rather not have total randoms as her god parents....
persimmon / 1427 posts
The child must have Godparents, but they don't have to be at the baptism (a stand in can substitute). I'm not sure if one Godparent needs to be there or not.
In baptism class they explained that sometimes a Godparent is sick or otherwise unable to make it at the last minute, someone else (another friend or family member) will stand in during the baptism for the missing Godparent.
Each parish may have different rules on this sort of thing. Call the parish you are considering for baptism to see what they say.
pomelo / 5178 posts
@Bluebonnet: Yep, that's what our parish said, too. We were trying to work around my SIL's schedule (our kids only have a godmother, my SIL) and they said they have church volunteers who would stand in if she was unable to make it.
OP-You might ask the parish where the baptism will take place, since rules do vary.
grapefruit / 4903 posts
The rules for godparents are found in the Code of Canon Law in sections 872-874, and they preclude the parents from serving as the child's godparents.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
I was told a baby only needs to have one godparent. My DH was raised Jewish so one of my sisters will be the "official" godparent while one of his brothers will be "unofficial" in the eyes of the church.
papaya / 10560 posts
Our parish wouldn't baptize if the godparents weren't catholic. A little pretentious in my opinion, but I still respect the traditionality of this rule. DH isn't catholic and I have no family around so I have a friend being the godparent. All we needed was one.
pomelo / 5789 posts
We are meeting with our priest tomorrow and this is one of our questions for him. We are having just the hardest time..
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
@matador84: Part of being a godparent in the Catholic Church is that you are helping to raise that child in the Catholic faith. I would think that would be hard to fulfill if you weren't Catholic?
cantaloupe / 6630 posts
@matador84: @Grace: if we did it in England only one god parent would need to be catholic. We'd have two catholic and two from other religions. To me the role of god parent is about more than teaching religion, it's about teaching kindness and tollerance as well so I have non- Catholic friends I'd like for the role. I know many people won't agree with me but that's how I see it.
clementine / 880 posts
@matador84 I was hoping the Godparents could be not catholic, too. I'm catholic but my husband isn't and most of my family isn't (only my mom was and my dad's family is much bigger), so all the people I would choose aren't catholic (but are religious). I wish it were more about raising faithful kids, not just catholic kids.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
@travelgirl1: I agree with you and that sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I've got lots of relatives that have done exactly that. For that matter, I think my godfather was Anglican when I was baptised (he's since converted).
pomelo / 5789 posts
@travelgirl1: well yes, but my family isnt Catholic. Our issue is that SO opened his big mouth and asked his little brother to be godfather....and he isnt practicing. So the second godparent must be a practicing woman, which only leaves SIL.....but its awkward to ask her, because we didnt ask her husband......we asked the other brother. SO just wants me to ask my friend instead (who would be a great religious role model) but she lives in DC....so we will see....
pomelo / 5789 posts
Here the rule is also that only one godparent needs to Catholic, but you must give a letter from their Priest if in a different parish, stating they attend regularly.
kiwi / 691 posts
The godparents don't have to be present (you can have a proxy). Also, only one godparent is required and must be Catholic. If using two Godparents, one can be non-Catholic. Of course the "rules" are different for each parish. Ours requires that they also be practicing,, i.e. regular mass attendance.
kiwi / 691 posts
@wheres_c: the regular mass attendance ruled out our siblings too. We chose two of our friends that will be great faithful role models for our LO.
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