Can my Protestant friend be godfather to my daughter, my wife and I are catholics?
We are catholics and married in the catholic church. We would like to now get our daughter christened but somebody has said the godparents can only be catholics? Our choice of Godfather is a Protestant. Does this really matter and can the catholic church refuse to recognise my friend as the Godfather? Your knowledge gratefully received please, I just thought Protestant and Catholic are branches of Christianity hence all would be ok, please help!
At least one godparent has to be Catholic. If the godfather is Protestant, then you should choose a Catholic godmother. We are both denominations of Christians, but the job of a godparent is to see that your child is brought up in the Catholic faith (in the event that you’re not able to). At least one of those godparents needs to know and practice the faith for that to happen.
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August 13 2009 02:27 pm | Protestant
Sirensong sunshine on 13 Aug 2009 at 7:35 pm #
I’m a god parent and I’m an atheist – married to a catholic
It’s not that important – you want someone you care about and who you know will care about your child. Religion is irrelevant
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kellywebb on 13 Aug 2009 at 8:23 pm #
Only by proxy, ask your priest. Sorry but to Catholics religion does matter.
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me
Jay on 13 Aug 2009 at 8:33 pm #
They have to be Catholic, since godparents jobs are supposed to be to raise the kid with Catholic teachings.
Though religion is all make believe so you can just say whatever you want anyways. Who cares what the religion teaches. It’s all fantasy so mix and match whatever you feel like.
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jamand on 13 Aug 2009 at 8:49 pm #
Let me put it this way – there is no religion more hypocritical than the Catholic religion – I would not be at all surprised if they refused to do it.
Why should it matter if he is your friend – bridging the religious tolerance barrier – good for you.
Stick to your guns and say you want him and ignore anyone else – especially the Catholic church
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Merry on 13 Aug 2009 at 9:18 pm #
At least one godparent has to be Catholic. If the godfather is Protestant, then you should choose a Catholic godmother. We are both denominations of Christians, but the job of a godparent is to see that your child is brought up in the Catholic faith (in the event that you’re not able to). At least one of those godparents needs to know and practice the faith for that to happen.
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Experience
Jeremy on 13 Aug 2009 at 9:43 pm #
No, I think the godparents have to be catholic…they will take over for you should anything happen and raise your children in the church…hence the very idea of godparents
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once married to a catholic and we fought and fought about this
nkcliff on 13 Aug 2009 at 10:31 pm #
dont feed separatist racism, if you want him as your godfather do it
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kaznaid on 13 Aug 2009 at 11:21 pm #
My husband is a Catholic (although I am not). We were married in a Catholic Church and our sons were both baptised and brought up as Catholics.
Their Godmother (My sister) is Church of England!
Also I am Godmother to three of my husband’s nephew s- I am Cof E and they have all been baptised a Catholic.
Problem solved!
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djoubanian on 13 Aug 2009 at 11:33 pm #
As long as you don’t mind and you know that he/she will care for the allot then yes you can, it doesn’t matter about religion as long as you trust him/her.
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happilycatholic on 14 Aug 2009 at 12:22 am #
At least one Godparent must be Catholic, or both. Only by speaking to a priest can you ascertain the exact expectation. Whenever this issue has ever come up in my life, I have always heard that Catholics are expected to be Godparents. There may be exceptions. It must certainly be at least one.
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answer4you on 14 Aug 2009 at 12:38 am #
No. A Godparent to a Catholic child needs to be a Catholic. The purpose of the Godparent is to ensure the Catholic education and upbringing of a child, should something happen to the parents.
In addition, a Protestant does not believe what we Catholic’s believe in, and thus does not have the teachings and full understanding of our faith, enough to serve as a suitable Godparent by way of teaching your child the Catholic teachings. There would be no assurance that he/she would have the proper influence…
Baptism is not about who is nice, who is close to us, but rather… it is about the child’s relationship with GOD. I could sugar coat this message for you, but this will not do much for your child and his/her relationship with GOD. Pick a Catholic godparent… this will increase the chances that they go astray from the TRUE CHURCH – CATHOLIC CHURCH.
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Pete on 14 Aug 2009 at 1:06 am #
I have a protestant godmother (my mother is also protestant) and I was raised catholic in Ireland.
I don’t think there should be an issue.
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sparki777 on 14 Aug 2009 at 1:24 am #
As long as your daughter has one practicing Catholic as a godparent, the other (of opposite gender) can be protestant.
As I’m sure you know, the role of the godparent is to guide the child in growing in the Catholic faith. Obviously, your protestant friend, no matter how wonderful he is, would be at a disadvantage in trying to help your daughter understand Catholicism, when he’s not Catholic himself.
However, all you need to do is choose a good Catholic woman as godmother, and you’re all set.
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