Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Philosophy/religion

Join our Philosophy forum to discuss religion and spirituality.

Original poster

roman catholic baptism. HELP!

52 replies

jaabaar · 14/04/2010 16:58

Hi,

I am roman catholic and want to baptis my 2 month old baby in august.

I have two godmothers which are christian orthodox. Now by reading internet i have found out that other baptised christians cannot be godparents unless another one is catholic!

I chose those two people because I know them for many years, I can trust them, they are religious and do sometimes attend mass.

Now I found out I cannot use them ((((.

Does the priest have discrection in allowing baptised christians to be godmothers at catholic baptism or is it an absolute no no no. ??

Does anyone know which forms i have to fill in? Have appointment with priest next monday!

thanks...

OP posts:
somethinganything · 14/04/2010 20:14

Hiya,

I really don't know I'm afraid but I know that in the past you used to have at least one RC godparent - so if that's still the case presumably you could your two Christian friends as godmothers if you were to have an RC godfather. Is that an option?

E.g. I'm RC and my parents chose two agnostic friends (both baptise CofE I think) as godparents and an extra RC godmother to meet the requirements. (Incidentally, the RC godmother hasn't been heard from since I was about 13 whereas the other two have been the most brilliant godparents.)

No idea about the forms I'm afraid. Would just suggest having an honest chat with your priest re the reasons for your choice of godparents.

Best of luck

nickytwotimes · 14/04/2010 20:17

I am practising RC and afaik one godparent MUST be RC. However, you can have several godparents so you could have the 2 you have chosen plus someone else who is a catholic. For example, ds has 4 gps - aunt and uncle who aren't rc plus my best friend and her nephew who are. They all must be baptised, but within any recognised church.

chibi · 14/04/2010 20:19

My dcs godparents are all catholic, but otoh i don't remember the priest asking if they were

the form i had to fill in just asked for their names, i would assume the priest has discretion

good luck

DunderMifflin · 14/04/2010 20:21

I'm not sure whether they need to be RC, but our priest told us they had to be baptised.

My best friend is my DC's fairy godmother instead of a usual one!

McDreamy · 14/04/2010 20:24

You do indeed have to have one Godparent that is a RC. You can still ask your friends but you need to include a RC friend or relative too.

FacePalm · 14/04/2010 20:35

I have just arranged the baptism for my two children. They have 2 godparents each, and the priest said at least one of these two must be Roman Catholic too.

Original poster
jaabaar · 14/04/2010 21:06

thank you very much for sharing your experiences. Unfortunately I do not have any family here in england ( I am swiss) and no friends who are catholic. So now I am stuck. ((((

I know that as far as I read, the rules are that one should be RC, but I was hoping there is a discretion the priest can use (

Let's see on Monday.

Thanks again.

OP posts:
macmam · 14/04/2010 21:16

Get a 3rd who is RC. Problem solved.

busymummy3 · 14/04/2010 22:09

will none of your family be coming over for baptism who are catholic who could be the required RC godparent?

McDreamy · 14/04/2010 22:10

How about someone doing it by proxy if they cannot attend the service?

Salbysea · 14/04/2010 22:13

if neither of your chosen GPs are RC and you don't know any there can be one nominated from the parish

and your RC god parent doesn't even have to physically attend

Original poster
jaabaar · 15/04/2010 12:34

Thanks again for the advise.

Salbysea: Do you mean the priest can nominate someone and that someone does not have to be present at the ceremony? How does that work?

From my family my mum will be coming, who is RC but does not speak english.

How do you do it by proxy?

thank you.

OP posts:
TheFallenMadonna · 15/04/2010 12:39

Ask the priest about proxy godparents. I'm not sure how it works, but this was suggested to us when it looked like DD's godfather would be too ill to attend the service. As it was, he was OK, butthere would have been no problem if he hadn't, the priest assured us.

acorntree · 15/04/2010 16:08

The RC godparent doesn't have to be physically present so you could ask family in another county - when my 1st child was baptised none of the 4 godparents (two RC from my family, two not RC - close friends and the 'real' godparents as far as I was concerned) were present - we were living overseas and they were all in our home country. A friend from the local parish stood in as proxy.

McDreamy · 15/04/2010 20:14

Someone stands in for the absent godparent, makes the promises etc on behalf of the "real" godparent.

WinterRose · 16/04/2010 14:09

I am Roman Catholic too, and would direct you to your priest who will be able to advise you on hearing all the facts from you.

I think there is a stipulation in Canon Law about the necessity for a Godparent to be Catholic.

Please go and see your Parish Priest, and I wish you success.

LoveJules3 · 16/04/2010 14:20

You can nominate yourself as a Godparent, my MIL did it for her daughter when one of hers dropped out .

I think that should cover the RC requirement?

mariagoretti · 17/04/2010 17:53

Don't panic. You can have proxy godparent as well. So the third godparent doesn't necessarily have to physically turn up

LynetteScavo · 17/04/2010 18:50

LoveJules...I understood parents couldn't be Godparents.

for my DC I have;

DS1 Cathoic Godfather (Who is Grandfather) / CofE Godfather.

DS2 Catholic Godfather/ CofE Godfather

DD Catholic Godfather (Grandfather)/ CofE Godmother.

I chose non Catholic godparents who were confirmed CofE, but the priest wasn't bothered, he only seemed to insist on having one Catholic Godfather. The others could have been any old bod...he certainly didn't check if they were Christians.

You will probably be given a booklet which explains it all.

ShoshanaBlue · 17/04/2010 21:29

A parent can not be a godparent and at least one RC Godparent - the other is called a 'Christian witness'.

amidaiwish · 17/04/2010 21:34

i have friends who are DDs godparents who are not baptised/christened, in fact pretty atheist and mumbled through the relevant bits.
but each dd has one RC godparent. I think that is all that is required, and as others heve said they do not even have to be physically present, just details entered on the baptism certificate

LoveJules3 · 18/04/2010 14:49

My Mil is her daughter's Godmother. We are CofE, not sure if that makes a difference? It certainly didn't for them.

Original poster
jaabaar · 19/04/2010 10:44

Thank you again very much for all your input. I am going to nite to meet the priest with my husband. Let's hope it all works out. Will post an update later.

thanks!

OP posts:
sweetkitty · 19/04/2010 10:51

My DDs each have one RC Godparent and one athiest/non baptised Godparent.

Salbysea · 19/04/2010 14:27

"You can nominate yourself as a Godparent, my MIL did it for her daughter when one of hers dropped out ."

as a parent you can stand in and speak for god parents who are not able to make it, but you cant BE the RC god parent IYKWIM. You say the whole renouncing satan bit for them but their names are on the cert