God Parents

Anonymous · Guest

I am a new catholic. My husband and I are expecting our first child in February 2007. It's my understanding that both godmother and godfather MUST be catholics in good standing and that it is better to pick a couple as they will have to raise my child in the event that something happens to me or my husband. Is this correct? Would this be a big imposition on a friend or family member?

My family is not Catholic. I do have family that I would like to ask, and do not want any hurt feelings if I don't choose anyone from my family. My husband's family, are all "cradle Catholics" and I don't want it to appear that we are favoring his family.

We have some close friends that are Catholic and we are considering asking them to be the God Parents as to save any hurt feelings. We are also the God Parents of their child.

What should I do?

PrayerGuy · Newbie Joined: May 04, 2006 Posts: 50 Status: **Offline**

To start, Congratulations!

We recently had our second child Baptized. It is a wonderful event which is made even better by sharing it with those you love. When we went through the class (required by our diocese), we were told that only one parent would have to be Catholic, and the other would have to be Christian and able to set a good example for our Child(ren). You should check with your Priest as to what your Diocese requires as far as classes. Ours required that we go to one and our God Parents go as well. They should explain this all to you along with the responsibilities for a God Parent and so on. For our first child we chose my wife’s brother, who happens to be Southern Baptist, and a friend from church. For our second Daughter we chose a married couple from church that we have been friends with for a while.

On to the next part, your God Parent is rarely asked to be a legal guardian. This is how things were many years ago. It is good to choose someone that might be able to take on that responsibility if needed, but you can have anyone become the legal guardian of your child in the event of your death. My brother in law was upset when he found out we had not picked him to be the God Father of our second child, as he was under this impression as well. He did not want the girls separated if something happened.

In my experience most friends or family get excited to be asked to become God Parents. It is their duty to help you raise your child by setting a strong example and helping them to grow in faith.

I would not worry about hurting other people’s feelings; do what is best for your child. When you choose a God Parent, choose someone that will be there for them and help them when they are struggling with faith.

I would suggest weighing the options. Pick several people and list the qualities that would make you want to pick them as your God Parents. Compare them that way. Consult with your Priest and ask him to help you understand and make an informed decision so that if possible (if a class is required) the God Parents can attend this with you. Remember, God Parents are there to help you as well; they might be able to grasp something and explain it better to you than someone you just met as your teacher for the first time.

Congratulations again and God Bless!

Anonymous · Guest

To throw my two sense in...

Only one Godparent is required. Godmother or Godfather, makes no difference.

Believe it or not there are qualifications to be a Godparent. One of those qualifications is that they be a practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church.

A Baptized Christian in good standing with their Community can be a "Christian Witness" to the Baptism along with a Catholic Godparent.


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