Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-Cathlolics may attend mass, you just can't take communion.

My father is not Catholic and has been attending mass with my Catholic mother for 40+ years. They've even arranged that when he passes, he'll have a funeral in their church, despite not being Catholic. It's a slightly abridged funeral mass, but the priest was totally fine with doing it for long-time parishioners.

As for baptism, only one of the two godparents needs to prove they are a Catholic in good standing (baptized/confirmed), which involves getting a copy of the paperwork from the church where they were baptized. Both our kids were baptized with only one godparent having this paperowrk, as the other godparent wasn't able to easily get it (they were baptized abroad).

I assume I could get the paperwork from my long-ago home parish stating that I received baptism and confirmation, but I'm no longer a Catholic in good standing - if fact, I'm an atheist. Are you saying that I could be someone's Godparent just with these documents?

Absolutely not. The baptismal sponsor must be canonically in good standing, and most parishes are looking for an attenuation from the sponsor’s home parish that they are active, practicing, contributing, etc. As a self-professed apostate and/or heretic who is admittedly not in canonical good standing you would not be a suitable individual to stand as sponsor at baptism.

How would anyone know unless told?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-Cathlolics may attend mass, you just can't take communion.

My father is not Catholic and has been attending mass with my Catholic mother for 40+ years. They've even arranged that when he passes, he'll have a funeral in their church, despite not being Catholic. It's a slightly abridged funeral mass, but the priest was totally fine with doing it for long-time parishioners.

As for baptism, only one of the two godparents needs to prove they are a Catholic in good standing (baptized/confirmed), which involves getting a copy of the paperwork from the church where they were baptized. Both our kids were baptized with only one godparent having this paperowrk, as the other godparent wasn't able to easily get it (they were baptized abroad).

I assume I could get the paperwork from my long-ago home parish stating that I received baptism and confirmation, but I'm no longer a Catholic in good standing - if fact, I'm an atheist. Are you saying that I could be someone's Godparent just with these documents?

Absolutely not. The baptismal sponsor must be canonically in good standing, and most parishes are looking for an attenuation from the sponsor’s home parish that they are active, practicing, contributing, etc. As a self-professed apostate and/or heretic who is admittedly not in canonical good standing you would not be a suitable individual to stand as sponsor at baptism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-Cathlolics may attend mass, you just can't take communion.

My father is not Catholic and has been attending mass with my Catholic mother for 40+ years. They've even arranged that when he passes, he'll have a funeral in their church, despite not being Catholic. It's a slightly abridged funeral mass, but the priest was totally fine with doing it for long-time parishioners.

As for baptism, only one of the two godparents needs to prove they are a Catholic in good standing (baptized/confirmed), which involves getting a copy of the paperwork from the church where they were baptized. Both our kids were baptized with only one godparent having this paperowrk, as the other godparent wasn't able to easily get it (they were baptized abroad).

I assume I could get the paperwork from my long-ago home parish stating that I received baptism and confirmation, but I'm no longer a Catholic in good standing - if fact, I'm an atheist. Are you saying that I could be someone's Godparent just with these documents?

Absolutely not. The baptismal sponsor must be canonically in good standing, and most parishes are looking for an attenuation from the sponsor’s home parish that they are active, practicing, contributing, etc. As a self-professed apostate and/or heretic who is admittedly not in canonical good standing you would not be a suitable individual to stand as sponsor at baptism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-Cathlolics may attend mass, you just can't take communion.

My father is not Catholic and has been attending mass with my Catholic mother for 40+ years. They've even arranged that when he passes, he'll have a funeral in their church, despite not being Catholic. It's a slightly abridged funeral mass, but the priest was totally fine with doing it for long-time parishioners.

As for baptism, only one of the two godparents needs to prove they are a Catholic in good standing (baptized/confirmed), which involves getting a copy of the paperwork from the church where they were baptized. Both our kids were baptized with only one godparent having this paperowrk, as the other godparent wasn't able to easily get it (they were baptized abroad).

I assume I could get the paperwork from my long-ago home parish stating that I received baptism and confirmation, but I'm no longer a Catholic in good standing - if fact, I'm an atheist. Are you saying that I could be someone's Godparent just with these documents?

Anonymous wrote:Non-Cathlolics may attend mass, you just can't take communion.

My father is not Catholic and has been attending mass with my Catholic mother for 40+ years. They've even arranged that when he passes, he'll have a funeral in their church, despite not being Catholic. It's a slightly abridged funeral mass, but the priest was totally fine with doing it for long-time parishioners.

As for baptism, only one of the two godparents needs to prove they are a Catholic in good standing (baptized/confirmed), which involves getting a copy of the paperwork from the church where they were baptized. Both our kids were baptized with only one godparent having this paperowrk, as the other godparent wasn't able to easily get it (they were baptized abroad).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I know someone who did this recently. The answer in that case was that the 8 year old did a kid-focused version of the RCIA (adult conversion) program. It takes about a year or more but you will do baptism, first communion, and confirmation in one. Usually the program concludes on Easter, so this year’s classes will be concluding very soon. Your husband should reach out to parishes to get the process started.

A child who is old enough for communion, but too young for confirmation would do the baptism, reconciliation, and first communion parts of RCIA, and then wait and do confirmation when they reach the appropriate age along with other kids who are preparing.

Anonymous wrote:I would church shop a little. Start with your geographic parish and if you like it, great. Go talk to someone in the parish office. When you call they'll let you know if it's better to meet with a priest or a person in charge of sacraments, but I bet it's the priest. The sacraments/religious ed person is more for logistics. If you're not feeling your parish, go to a few around you on Sundays until you get a sense for them. I'd make sure you find the parish you want first, then reach out.

Anonymous wrote:I would church shop a little. Start with your geographic parish and if you like it, great. Go talk to someone in the parish office. When you call they'll let you know if it's better to meet with a priest or a person in charge of sacraments, but I bet it's the priest. The sacraments/religious ed person is more for logistics. If you're not feeling your parish, go to a few around you on Sundays until you get a sense for them. I'd make sure you find the parish you want first, then reach out.