God Parents (Catholic)
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Topic: God Parents (Catholic)
Posted By: rachelsea
Subject: God Parents (Catholic)
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 2:40pm
Hi 
My DH's family is Catholic and we'll be getting our baby baptised sometime after she's born. I was never baptised so technically am not any religion, but I do go to church with DH when he goes and have no problem with having our baby baptised. Does anyone know if the godparents have to be Catholic? I want to ask one of my friends to be godmother but she is not Catholic either! (she's presbytarian) do you think that would matter? In fact none of my friends/family are Catholic so if it is a requirement I won't be able to have anyone from my side as a godparent! ------------- DD 4yrs DS 2yrs http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 2:50pm
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As a requirement, as least ONE godparent must be catholic.
We just had two godfathers, rather than one of each sex! ------------- Mummy to two beauties... Formerly Kaiz. |
Posted By: weegee
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 3:00pm
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Yup, what kaiz said. We thought they both had to be RC until we had already asked ours and were filling in the forms and saw that only one of them had to be... so now we've used up two of our Catholic friends, and it'll be that much harder for subsequent baby or babies! ------------- 
Mum to JJ, 4 July 2008 & Addie, 28 July 2010 |
Posted By: rachelsea
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 3:10pm
Ahh thanks ladies! That makes life easier, as all DH's brothers/ sisters/ cousins etc are Catholic so he can pick one of them, then that's the one Catholic person sorted  ------------- DD 4yrs DS 2yrs http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Danaj
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 4:59pm
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What exactly is the role of a god parent?
We've got friends listed in our will who will take bubs in the even of our death. Is it similar to that? We're not religious at all. ------------- http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wyI1oWn/"> 
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 5:17pm
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Dana, you're thinking of a guardian. Some parents choose the same people to be their childs Godparents and guardians but they are 2 seperate roles. In the Catholic church baptism is the first sacrament (kind of like initiation) and the Godparents 'sponsor' the baby. During the actual baptism ceremony the parents promise to ensure their child is raised with a spiritual and religious upbringing and guide them in the ways of the church. The Godparents promise to make sure the parents do this and in years to come they generally take an interest in the childs upbringing, particularly the spiritual side. For people who aren't religious asking someone to be a Godparent is often considered more of an honour than a responsibility iykwim (although it is both things for both religious and non-religious parents) and Godparents will generally take an interest in a childs upbringing without the same focus on God and religion that Christian Godparents have. Does that make sense?
ETA: this site probably explains it from a christian perspective better than I managed: http://christeningessentials.com/what_are_godparents - http://christeningessentials.com/what_are_godparents _ -------------  
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 5:46pm
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Both sets of grand parents were mine and my brother's god parents, they can be the same for each child and don't have to be a non family member.
I know of couples where one partner wasn't catholic, and as long as the promised to raise their children in the catholic faith, they didn't have to convert to Catholicism. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: Danaj
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 5:57pm
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Thanks MrsMojo. That makes sense.
DH asked me about god parents when we found out we were preg but I thought it a bit hypocritical seeing we're not religious. ------------- http://www.TickerFactory.com/weight-loss/wyI1oWn/">
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Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 6:21pm
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Yep what the others said. I think it used to have to be both but I guess now-days Catholics are slim pickings
It is a lovely occasion though - I'm really glad we got Rowan baptised. We do try to go to church regularly too but she's fairly disruptive so at the moment I feel a bit of a hypocrite. -------------  
 
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 7:46pm
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lol Bobbie, she'll grow out of it and generally others don't mind. Michaela and I go to church every Sunday and she has a small backpack full of toys, books and snacks to keep her occupied so I can focus. I also find sitting in the front pews helps. She can be pretty loud like when she suddenly announces at top volume "NEED TO GO WEES MUM" while everyone else is silent, or last week when the offertory basket was passed around and she spent the next few minutes crying "money....money....money......" while I wondered where her volume switch is. The funniest though was when we used to care for our nephew who at the time was 2yo. We were in church and everyone had just risen for the entrance him when Josh spotted Father Kevin and shouted "LOOK, HERE'S GOD NOW". -------------
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 28 January 2009 at 7:48pm
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That's exactly right. My mum wasn't Catholic when my sister and brother were baptised (she later chose to convert) and my BIL is atheist. What really matters is your intention for the child to be raised Catholic. -------------
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mrsg1 wrote: