Godparent/Sponsor Requirements
Serving as a Godparent/Sponsor has Great Responsibilities:
A Godparent/Sponsor must be a Roman Catholic because Godparents/Sponsors officially represent the Catholic Church by witnessing what it means to live a baptized life, confirmed in the Holy Spirit and faithfully participating in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life.
Godparents/Sponsors can truthfully state all of the following:
- I am at least 16 years of age.
- I am a registered member of my Catholic parish.
- I am an active member at my parish. [financial support and involvement in ministries]
- I have received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion and can show proof.
- I fully and actively participate in the Liturgy of the Mass on Sundays & Holy Days of Obligation;
- I celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly [every 1-2 months];
- I tithe 3-10% to our parish weekly;
- I develop and maintain a personal relationship with God through daily prayer;
- I participate in the catechetical, sacramental, and communal life of our parish.
- I witness to the teachings of the Catholic Church by the way I live my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
- Relationship status*:
- I am married, and I married within the Catholic Church and can show proof. OR
- I am unmarried, nor am I cohabitating with my significant other [living together under the same roof: part-time, full-time, or occasional sleepovers].
Relationship Status Notes for Potential Sponsors:
- Those Catholics in second+ marriages must have had their previous marriage[s] annulled and their second+ marriage convalidated by the Catholic Church.
- Those Catholics presently in civil or common law marriages are not eligible to serve as a Sponsor.
- A Sponsor who is unmarried, must be living a life consistent with the single vocation as defined by the Catholic Church. [in good standing]
- Any single person cohabitating with another person, living in a romantic relationship or as a couple, is ineligible to minister as a Sponsor.
I am over the age of 7 and receiving the sacrament of Baptism. Am I allowed to have Godparent[s] for Baptism and someone else as my Confirmation Sponsor? In Canon 893, your Confirmation Sponsor is to be your Godparent. Canon 866 specifically states that immediately following your Baptism, you receive Confirmation. The answer is no. You are not allowed to have Godparent[s] for Baptism and then a different person as a sponsor for Confirmation when receiving those two sacraments together at the same Mass.
Do You Know a Cafeteria Catholic? A Cafeteria Catholic is someone who picks and chooses Church teachings according to what they want to believe or not believe. Catholics are not free to choose which teachings (on faith and morals) to obey.
- A Cafeteria Catholic supports the pro-choice movement [abortion and contraception].
- A Cafeteria Catholic supports the re-defining of marriage.
- A Cafeteria Catholic is “living with” someone else [cohabitating full-time or occasionally] or is civilly married;
- while engaging in intimate sexual relations (outside the Sacrament of Matrimony).
- A Cafeteria Catholic is attending Mass only when they feel like it or it fits into their schedule.
You may not choose a CAFETERIA CATHOLIC as your Godparent/Sponsor.
CODE OF CANON LAW for the SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM:
THOSE TO BE BAPTIZED
Canon 864 Every person not yet baptized and only such a person is capable of baptism.
Canon 865 §1. For an adult to be baptized, the person must have manifested the intention to receive baptism, have been instructed sufficiently about the truths of the faith and Christian obligations, and have been tested in the Christian life through the catechumenate. The adult is also to be urged to have sorrow for personal sins.
§2. An adult in danger of death can be baptized if, having some knowledge of the principal truths of the faith, the person has manifested in any way at all the intention to receive baptism and promises to observe the commandments of the Christian religion.
Canon 866 Unless there is a grave reason to the contrary, an adult [age 8+] who is baptized is to be confirmed immediately after baptism and is to participate in the eucharistic celebration also by receiving communion.
Canon 867 §1. Parents are obliged to take care that infants are baptized in the first few weeks; as soon as possible after the birth or even before it, they are to go to the pastor to request the sacrament for their child and to be prepared properly for it.
§2. An infant in danger of death is to be baptized without delay.
SPONSORS
Canon 872 Insofar as possible, a person to be baptized is to be given a sponsor who assists an adult in Christian initiation or together with the parents presents an infant for baptism. A sponsor also helps the baptized person to lead a Christian life in keeping with baptism and to fulfill faithfully the obligations inherent in it.
Canon 873 There is to be only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each.
Canon 874 §1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:
1/ be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.
§2. A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community is not to participate except together with a Catholic sponsor and then only as a witness of the baptism.
CODE OF CANON LAW for the SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION:
THOSE TO BE CONFIRMED
Canon 889 §1. Every baptized person not yet confirmed and only such a person is capable of receiving confirmation.
§2. To receive confirmation licitly outside the danger of death requires that a person who has the use of reason be suitably instructed, properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises.
Canon 890 The faithful are obliged to receive this sacrament at the proper time. Parents and pastors of souls, especially pastors of parishes, are to take care that the faithful are properly instructed to receive the sacrament and come to it at the appropriate time.
Canon 891 The sacrament of confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion unless the conference of bishops has determined another age, or there is danger of death, or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause suggests otherwise.
SPONSORS
Canon 892 Insofar as possible, there is to be a sponsor for the person to be confirmed; the sponsor is to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ and faithfully fulfills the obligations inherent in this sacrament.
Canon 893 §1. To perform the function of sponsor, a person must fulfill the conditions mentioned in canon 874.
§2. It is desirable to choose as sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism. [This practice stems from the close connection between the two sacraments and the godparent's existing commitment to the individual's spiritual life. The godparent, having already made promises to assist in the child's Christian upbringing at baptism, is seen as a natural choice to continue guiding and supporting the individual's faith journey through confirmation.]