The desire to have your child baptized is a great and important moment. The name of a saint is given in Baptism in order that the person baptized may imitate his/her virtues and have him/her for a protector. In order to enter into this sacrament in a spirit of joy and understanding, it is necessary to fullfill the requirements:
When a child or an adult is to be baptized, he or she must have at least one godparent or sponsor (the terms are interchangeable). It is customary to have two godparents. When there are two, one must be male and the other female. Godparents must meet all of the following criteria, which are established by universal Church law and which do not vary from place to place. Godparents must:
This means that they must be practicing the faith, cannot be engaging in notorious sin, and cannot have taken public positions in opposition to the Catholic faith or morals. If a sponsor is married, their marriage must be recognized by the Church.
People sometimes object to the requirements for a sponsor. They argue that parents should have freedom to choose the sponsor of a child who is to be baptized. In order to understand the Church’s position, several points must be kept in mind.
Baptism is not a private act. It is a public, official liturgy of the Church and welcomes someone into the Catholic Church. Therefore, the Church has the duty and obligation to require reasonable criteria for being a sponsor. The sponsor is to assist the parents and the child in living a Catholic life. In order to do so, the sponsor needs to provide a good example of living that life. A person who is not Catholic, or who is not living in a way consistent with the faith, obviously cannot provide the example that is part of the task of being a godparent. The role of godparent is a role of service done in the name of the Church, and the person who is a sponsor should be capable of performing that service.
If there is one godparent, Church law does permit, but does not encourage, the appointment of one ‘Christian witness’ to the baptism ceremony. This witness must be a baptized, upright, non-Catholic Christian. The ‘Christian witness’ takes part in the ceremony but is not a godparent. A former Catholic, a non-baptized person or someone who does not live a virtuous Christian life can never be a Christian witness.