Godparents

THE ROLE OF GODPARENTS IN FAITH FORMATION: CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE.

Introduction

Charity, they say, begins at home and “faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy”(Porta Fidei.no.7). In this regard, the Catholic Church proposes that godparents or sponsors be given to new converts to accompany them affectionately on the journey of faith so as to help them grow in the faith in their daily life. Sadly, some pastoral problems and crises of faith that the Church experiences in our day can be mapped out to the fact that this provision of the Church has either failed or lost its binding force among the faithful. Or it has been underrated somewhere along the line.

Though space will not allow me to speak to the matter into detail, I deem it fit to write this piece to rejuvenate the pristine strength of mind with which early Christians approached this agency of godparent in the faithful of today and lead them rediscover the importance the Church accords it.

Who is a godparent?

According to Jovian P. Lang, in Dictionary of the Liturgy, godparent and sponsor are ordinarily used interchangeably to refer to those who present the candidate, both for baptism and confirmation, with the intention to make sure that the person will be faithful to the meaning of the sacrament.  However, some people distinguish between them. In this case, while the godparents are chosen to guide the elect during their Initiation Rite, sponsors are chosen to accompany candidates who seek admission to the catechumenate and remain with them to supervise their progress during this process until the Rite of Election, when they may also be chosen as godparents (Jovian P. Lang, Dictionary of the Liturgy1989).

Chambers English Dictionary defines “Godparent” as “a person who, at a baptism, guarantees a child’s religious education or who (loosely) undertakes to bring up the child in the event of the death its parents”. This sounds the bell that the role of a godparent doesn't end with the ceremony. Rather, he or she becomes, in duty bound, the supportive pillar for the child and must show keenness and interest in the upbringing of the child. Customarily, the godparent is someone outside the immediate family who follows the same faith.

Godparenting in the New Testament and Its Implication for Christians.

God-parenting is an age-old tradition that can be traced back to the age of the apostles. This is very loud in the letters of St. Paul. Paul led many people to Christ and helped them mature spiritually. In this regard, Steve Jonathan sees a godparent as essentially “a spiritual guide” to the child or the baptized or the confirmandi. As a spiritual father, with a deep concern for his spiritual children, Paul wrote he felt he was ‘going through labour pains for Galatians and this he said would continue until Christ has been fully developed in their lives.’ (cf. Gal.4:19). To the Ephesians wrote: “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (Eph.4:13). Here we see the goal of god-parenting plainly stated.

Christ has given his church an enormous responsibility ‘to make disciples in every nation’ (cf.Mat.28:18-20). This entails preaching, teaching, healing, nurturing, giving, administering, building, and many other tasks. It will be impossible for individuals to fulfill this mandate alone. Luckily, Christ calls us (the Church) together as members of his body.  As members of the body of Christ we can achieve more together than we would dream possible working by ourselves individually. Working together, the church can express the fullness of Christ. This “fullness” is expressed only in Christ (Col. 2:9, 10) yet in union with Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority (Col.2: 9; Jn1:14, 16), and through his empowering spirit, we are made whole. Consequently, every Christian and in a special way “Godparents” are able to tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given them so as to present humanity to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ (cf.Col.1:28); that is, to present each believer, though not “flawless”, spiritually mature.

History and Place of Godparenting in the Catholic Church

The role of the godparent for baptism is rooted in the role of the sponsor in the catechumenate, which originated in the early Church. This was a safety measure the Church adopted to get around pagan infiltration and persecution. This was necessitated by the fact that until the year 313, the Church was under the persecution of the Roman Empire and had to be precautious in carrying out its relationships. Besides, until the Middle Ages, the Sacraments of Initiation — baptism, holy Eucharist, and confirmation — were administered at once and a sponsor was needed to attest to the integrity of the person, often times an adult, seeking admission into the Church. The sponsor assists him/her during the catechumenate in preparing for these sacraments and in living a Christian life. For infants, these sponsors would also make the Profession of Faith in the child's name and accept the responsibility of instructing the child in the faith, especially if the parents failed in this duty. However, there is no legal commitment here and the godparent is not the legal guardian of the child. This is in keeping with the Code of Canon Law, which recommends that the one to be baptized should be offered a sponsor to assist him or her in the Christian initiation, in the case of an adult, and together with the parents, to present an infant at baptism. This sponsor will help the baptized to lead a Christian life in harmony with baptism, and to fulfill faithfully the obligations connected with it (cf. no. 872).

Recommendations and Conclusion

As we have seen, ‘Godparenting’ is a great responsibility and godparents serve a special role in the life of the baptized person. As a result, the godparent must ensure that the child is well versed in the fundamentals and practices of his religion and must be keen in the other aspects of the child's life as well. Those will include birthdays, holidays, graduation and any other special event in the life of the child. Godparent and the child might live in different houses or might have great physical distances between them, but the godparent should ensure that he allocates some time for the godchild and visits him often.

Therefore, each parent should choose a godparent not just because of a blood relationship or friendship; rather, a person who is a trustworthy witness of the faith who will help the godchild attain salvation. Technically, only Catholics can be godparents or sponsors. A Christian of another denomination, whether Orthodox or Protestant, however, may be a "Christian witness" to the baptism along with the Catholic godparent since the godparent takes responsibility for the religious education and spiritual formation of the baptized person and at the same time represents the Church, the community of faith, into which the person is baptized (Cf. Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, No. 57; canon, No.874). That is why it is expedient that Godparents should be faithful individuals who are ready to accept the responsibility of being a part of a godchild's life for the rest of his life.

I humbly wish to submit that pastors of souls and their associates as well as their collaborators pay special attention to the role of godparents in the faith formation of new converts and put necessary measures in place to prepare the godparents for the task. This I pounce will lend a hand to the godparents to be able to instill the faith of Mother Church in ‘the today’ of the converts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Saunders, Rev. William. "The Role of Godparents" Arlington Catholic Herald.

Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei  For The Induction Of The Year Of Faith, Given In Rome, At Saint Peter’s, On 11 October In The Year 2011.

Wroblewski, Fr. Sergius, Summary on Porta Fidei paragraphs as numbered in original document online.

Lang, Rev. Jovian P., Dictionary of the Liturgy, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1989.

Flannery, Austin, Vatican II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, St. Pauls, Bandra, Mumbai, 2001.

Life Application Study Bible New Living Translations (2^nd Edit.), Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois, 2007.