Msg Base:  AREA 5  - ASK FATHER            CIN ECHO   AMDG
  Msg No: 231.  Fri  1-17-92 19:52  (NO KILL)  (MAILED)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: Mark Wallace
 Subject: Baptism, godparents

+-
| Hi,
| This morning at 0424, my wife gave birth to a baby girl.  We're planning
| the baptism now, and we had a few questions, some of which we'll have to
| discuss with the officiating priest, but while I had a few moments, I
| thought I'd ask you what the qualifications and obligations of Godparents
| are??  Who is eligible to be a godparent?  How many are there (don't
| laugh; I have 4, my wife has too many to count...)  What are their
| obligations, other than to ensure that the child is nutured in the
| christian faith??  Must they be R.C.??  May they be blood relatives?
| Thanks for your time!
| BTW, since you're a member of the S.J, have you read, or do you have any
| comment on the new book "Men Astutely Trained"?? I don't have the author
| here in front of me, but I was given the gift as a Christmas present, and
| I wondered if it had acquired a reputation yet.
| P.P.S- Do you recall, off the top of your head, what the dates of the ban
| against the jesuits were??
| Thanks again,
| Mark C. Wallace
| .
|  
+-[MW=>FM]
 
Dear Mark,
 
Congratulations to you and Mrs. Wallace on your new baby girl.
 
Here is the cannon law on godparents (called "sponsors" in the law).
Because this is a LAW, it must be read carefully, so draw up your
chair.
 
Canon 872: "Insofar as possible one to be baptized is to be given a
sponsor, who is to assist an adult in Christian initiation, or, to-
gether with the parents, to present an infant at the baptism, and who
will help the baptized to lead a Christian life in harmony with
baptism, and to fulfil faithfully the obligations connected with it."
 
Canon 873: "Only one male or one female sponsor or one of each sex is
to be employed."
 
Canon 874, section 1: "To be admitted to the role of sponsor, a person
must:
1) be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the one
who takes their place or, in their absence, by the pastor or minister,
and is to have the qualifications and intention of performing this role;
2) have completed the sixteenth year, unless a different age has been
established by the diocesan bishop or it seems to the pastor or minister
that an exception is to be made for a just cause.
3) be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the
sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist and leads a life in harmony with
the faith and the role to be undertaken:
4) not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or
declared;
5) not be the father or the mother of the one to be baptized; - section
2. "A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community
may not be admitted except as a witness to baptism and together with a
Catholic sponsor."
 
Looking ahead a few years, let me give you the canons on confirmation
sponsorship:
Canon 892: "As far as possible a sponsor for the one to be confirmed
should be present; it is for the sponsor to see that the confirmed
person acts as a true witness to Christ and faithfully fulfils the
obligations connected with this sacrament."
Canon 893 - section 1. "To perform the role of sponsor it is necessary
that a person fulfil the conditions mentioned in canon 874" (see above
in this message).
- section 2. "It is desirable that the one who undertook the role of
sponsor at baptism be sponsor for confirmation."
 
People you wish to compliment may be invited as WITNESSES, but not as
supernumerary GODPARENTS.  Sponsorship is serious supernatural
business and its importance should not be blunted by using it as a
means to satisfy social obligations.
 
I have not heard of the book "Men Astutely Trained".  I have heard no
one in the community talking about it.  Perhaps we will talk about it
after the Superbowl.
 
The Jesuits were suppressed by Pope Clement XIV in 1773.  The order
continued to exist in Russia, where the Empress Catherine II refused
to allow the brief of suppression to be officially promulgated.  Pope
Pius VII restored the order in 1814.
 
                                Sincerely in Christ,
 
                                Father Mateo