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My wife and I are Latin-rite Catholics. We recently had our second son, and we are considering potential sponsors for his baptism. My sister-in-law and her husband are Greek Orthodox, and we would really like for them to be the baby's godparents. However, Latin canon law requires that the godparents be practicing Catholics. Is there a similar requirement in the Byzantine Rite, or may Orthodox Christians serve as godparents? Does the Eastern Code of Canon Law address this? If it is allowed, I would consider having him baptized in the Byzantine Rite, as I am contemplating a change of rite myself.

Thank you!

Dave

1. Catholic canon law requires that a child be initiated in the ritual church of the father. If you are still a Latin Catholic, therefore, canonically your child must be initiated as a Latin Catholic. Exceptions are made on a pastoral basis, particularly for those who have requests for changes of rite pending at the time of the initiation.

2. Although the Latin canon law has the wording that it does, in practice, pastorally, Orthodox Christians may be permitted to serve as godparents at a Latin Catholic baptism -- usually this will be allowed if there is at least one Catholic godparent. I know this because my wife, shortly after being received by the Orthodox Church, served as a godparent at a Latin Catholic baptism -- after several discussions with the local Latin Catholic priest about the applicable canons.



[This message has been edited by Brendan (edited 07-03-2001).]

My own grandson has a Methodist, an Episcopalian and a Latin Catholic godparent, baptized in the Byzantine Church.

Olga

Just to set the record straight here. Only one godparent is required, and that person must be a fully initiated, practicing Catholic [Canon 874]. Others may serve as "Christian witnesses" but are not recorded as being godparents. No child may have more than two godparents, and no more than one of either sex (that is, a child cannot have two godmothers or two godfathers)[Canon 873].

Edward, deacon and sinner

Fr. Dn Edward --

There are pastoral exceptions made to the canons, however. After much wrangling, the Latin Catholics allowed my wife (Orthodox) to be a godparent, and not simply a "Christian witness".

Brendan

Same with my grandson. The baptismal certificate (in English and Carpatho-Ukrainian) says right on it all three are godparents. Maybe LAtin law is different.

Olga

Brendan & Olga:

I was citing Latin law. There are priests who will not follow the law, but there are not supposed to be any exceptions.

Edward, deacon and sinner

Glory to Jesus Christ!

In ROCOR and other slavic Orthodox Churches, there is a pious tradition (note the small "t") that there be a Godfather and Godmother with an additional a monastic God-Parent appropriate to the sex of the child ( a nun for girls, a monk for males). When my grandson was baptised we were told of this tradition---the monastic God-parent prays for the God Child as part of their daily intercessory prayer. As the child grows older they visit the monastery/convent of their God parent and are introduced to monastic spirituality and practices that enrich their spiritual life.

Your brother in Christ,
Thomas

The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, the document given to the Eastern Churches by our Western Canon Law brethren states:

Canon 685: For a person to fulfill validly the role of a sponsor, it is necessary that he or she:

1. be initiated with the three sacraments of baptism, chrismation with holy myron and the Eucharist;
2. belong to the Catholic Church, with due regard for paragraph 3;
3. have the intention of carrying out the responsiblity of sponsor;
4. be designated by the person to be baptised or the parents or guardians, or, if there are not any, by the minister;
5. be not the father, mother or spouse of the person to be baptized;
6, be not bound by excommunications, even a minor one, suspension, depostion or deprived of the right of acting in the function of a sponsor.

Pararaph 2: To assume licitly the role of sponsor, in addition to what is required, the sponsor should be of the age required by particular law and lead a life in harmony with the faith and the role to be undertaken.

Paragraph 3: For a just cause, it is permitted to admit the Christian faithful of another Eastern non-Catholic Church to the function of a sponsor, but always at the same time with a Catholic sponsor.

So: our legal stuff says at least one Catholic sponsor, but Eastern Orthodox are OK too as co-sponsors. However, from my experience, among the 'cradle' folks, we just admit a legitimate family member or really close individual who is devout, even if he/she is of another jurisdiction. I know that this will make the canonists poop, but the fact remains that if an ethnic Eastern Catholic priest were to strenuously object to ethnic godparents of the parallel Orthodox persuasion, then he'd face a load of -- shall I say -- opprobrium. The legalists might have a problem from the canonical point of view. For us Easterns, in general, the blood is thicker than canon law. Yeah, we respect it, but we choose our godparents because they love our family, they'll take care of the child without question, and they'll be around.

As a godparent myself, the (Greek) job description says: watch out for the child; if he needs money, I give it; if his/her parents have a problem, I have an obligation to take care of the child no matter what; if the child needs a kidney or liver or whatever, I go to donate; if the child needs discipline I assist the parent as the family member who can talk to the kid confidentially without 'ratting' on what he/she is doing. And I'd give my life for my godchild no matter what. AND, conversely, if I'm in trouble, it's also the responsiblity of the god-child to be there, spiritually, physically and financially to help out. On a personal note, after my Mom suffered her stroke, her godchild (the son of my Mom's best friend) wrote and asked what he needed to do in terms of visiting, financial support or whatever. This is something unique to us Constantinopolitans; the 'others' have a devotion to their families, but we have it institutionalized without making it legal. (Actually, Greek law recognizes the responsibility of godchildren to their godparents.)

So, to the folks who gave us the "Eastern Canon Law": thanks, its a wonderful document.

To our peoples, don't worry about the foolish book: do what we have always done. And extend this love and concern to all our brethren regardless of who their bishop is. When you step up to stand for a child at baptism, you have become blood for that child. And we KNOW what that means, without any books. And if you don't know, then you're still an outsider, despite all the ceremonies and legal definitions.

Were I asked to be the sponsor for a child in the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox community, there is absolutely NO question about what I have to do for the child and what the child is supposed to acknowledge for me. Let the canonists work their wiles. We're family and blood.

And I don't know of any bishops (of whatever jurisdiction) who would deny us people-of-God our blood-bond that is generated through the sacrament of Baptism. Through baptism, we ARE family, and we have invincible bonds between the families. And from our peoples' perspective, no law or regulation is going to get in our way.

Blessings!



[This message has been edited by Dr John (edited 07-03-2001).]

Can I infer from this quote that any Latin Catholic who transfers into an Eastern Catholic Church will always be regarded as an outsider?

Awaiting your reply...

--NDHoosier

NDHoosier:

No, not at all. In fact, I haven't changed ritual churches and my Melkite parishoners consider me one of their own (of course, the fact that I took the trouble to learn to speak a little Arabic went a long way to addressing that). The Melkite clergy also treat me as one of their own -- sometimes forgetting that I am a Latin deacon and being surprised at my knowledge of the Latin Church!

No, as long as one doesn't drag expectations from the Latin Church (take down those icons and put up a real stations of the cross, ar at least a real icon, you know, Our Lady of perpetual Help) into the East one tends to be accepted.

Edward, deacon and sinner

Like he said.....

Just keep hangin' around.

Blessings!

Thank you for your replies! I would like to thank Dr. John especially for the material on the Eastern Code of Canon Law.

In my research this week, I discovered that according to the Ecumenical Directory, "It is permissible for a just reason to accept one of the faithful of an Eastern Church as godparent at the baptism of a Catholic infant or adult, as long as Catholic upbringing of the one being baptized is provided for and there is assurance that the person is fit to be a godparent" (#48). This doesn't alleviate the requirement that one of the godparents be a Catholic, but will (hopefully) allow one of my Orthodox family members to be a godparent rather than merely a "Christian witness".

Thanks again!

Dave

Dear Brother Dave, you are relying upon canon law to guide your actions. I would suggest that (from our Eastern perspective) that you avail yourself of the ministrations of your pastor or your bishop.

We just don't do this sort of legal stuff.

Blessings!

Besides, the pre-printed baptismal certificates don't make any distinction anyway!

Olga