I tried to have my non-baptized brother be a Christian Witness and my church in VA would not allow it. But it depends on the church b/c I am non-baptized and I am a godparent b/c the church asked for no papers! It all depends how liberal the church is and if they demand baptism paperwork!

Lots of sturm und drang, here. OP, you've got it right and your priest will confirm this for you (and that this is no big deal nor very unusual). One of 'em has to be Catholic and is the "god parent" the other does not and can be Jewish and will be the "witness". Both should be able to stand up there and participate in the ceremony, although with a Jewishwitness, priests will often ask if they (the witness) prefer not to make the sign of the cross on the baby's forehead because they know many Jews will prefer to avoid actively making symbols of other faiths.This is not all that new, either - I'm an observant Catholic in my late 30s and I have cousins with Jewish godparents.

You actually don't sound well versed. Orthodox church's have similar (typically stricter) rules for Godparents.

Cannon law (I know you don't like these but they are how the church operates) specifically say the non-Catholic sponor/godparent can be from "non-Catholic ecclesial community." This means Christian. Jews are not Christian. It doesn't say just any non-Catholic.

If you are doing this for your child you should actually learn more about the church which you are willingly choosing. Clearly mass once a week isn't cutting it for you. There are adult RCIA classes you may want look into. I'm sure your priest can help you find one. Since your intent is to raise the child Catholic you really should know more in a basic level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my Jewish college roommate as my third Godchild together with my sister and BIL. She stood up with siter and BIL but didn't speak the affirmations. She was very honored.

She's still not officially a godparent even if she stood up during the ceremony.

OP here. As I stated, I am well aware that our Catholic nephew would be the only "official" godparent, but given that a non-Catholic supporter is permitted to stand and be part of the ceremony, it is extremely rude of you to belittle an event in which someone was "very honored." I was not asking for details on Canon law about who qualifies as official godparents. Let it go.

I think this is something we will just have to bring up with the priest ahead of time. Thank you all for your input. We are looking for a way to honor the special relationship that our friend has developed with our daughter (who is three years old, so we're already in the Catholic dog house), and I know that she would take the role of godparent very seriously. Our nephew on the other hand, well, we needed somebody Catholic. If it cna't be done, we will likely just have our nephew at the actual baptism and on the certificate, and have an outside of church celebration with our friend as her godmother.

You really need to consider what you are doing and why you are doing this. Please talk to the priest (clearly not your priest). You at a minimum need to do baptismal prep class so you know what a Catholic baptism involves, why it is done, what it means. Canon Law is important, it is the rules of the Church. Non-Catholic are fine (even in Canon law) but they have to be Christian. Plus you aren't in the doghouse for baptizing a 3 year old. People of all ages can be baptized.

By your post it seems as though you don't want to do this. Which is completely fine. The priest will ask you about that. Just figure out if this is what you want for your child.

Ay yi yi. OP here.

We attend Catholic mass every week. I am a member of the Orthodox church and am therefore allowed the Catholic sacraments, although I did not grow up in the Catholic tradition, nor have I ever attended a Catholic baptism. Which is why I don't know what's generally permitted as far as godparents go. We intend to raise our children as Catholic. We already attended the baptismal class at our church (which consisted of a video... and that's it), but I am well-versed in what baptism means, why it is done, etc. We have waited this long so that we had time to carefully consider which church (Catholic or Orthodox) in which we wanted to baptize. I don't think anything in my post reflects an lack of sincerity in the sacrament. Canon law requires one Catholic godparent--I understand that--but another non-Catholic can be involved in the ceremony as an unofficial godparent, and I simply wondered if this person could be Jewish.

We will just talk with our (yes, "our") priest about it.

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. We had our son baptized in April at the insistence of MIL. We did not have to take any baptismal prep class or send any documents to the church. It was the church DH went to as a child and they remembered him (he was an altar server) and his sister, a non practicing Catholic, is DS' Godmother. My brother is DS' Godfather, and at the moment, is practicing Buddhism, having renounced the Catholic faith years ago. He was baptized, but not confirmed. Church had no issue with this.

I'll say this, DH and I have no plans to raise DS Catholic. We are researching different religions and will choose one that most identifies with our beliefs and how we want to raise DS. We did the baptism to please MIL and that is about it.

Sorry some PPs are tearing into you. the best thing to do is just call the church and ask them. Some might be more strict (requiring classes and documentation) and some might be more laid back like ours.

Does MIL know you have no plans to raise DS as Catholic? I think the conversation is going to come up again. Tell her you're choosing what YOU want for your child.

Hi OP. We had our son baptized in April at the insistence of MIL. We did not have to take any baptismal prep class or send any documents to the church. It was the church DH went to as a child and they remembered him (he was an altar server) and his sister, a non practicing Catholic, is DS' Godmother. My brother is DS' Godfather, and at the moment, is practicing Buddhism, having renounced the Catholic faith years ago. He was baptized, but not confirmed. Church had no issue with this.

I'll say this, DH and I have no plans to raise DS Catholic. We are researching different religions and will choose one that most identifies with our beliefs and how we want to raise DS. We did the baptism to please MIL and that is about it.

Sorry some PPs are tearing into you. the best thing to do is just call the church and ask them. Some might be more strict (requiring classes and documentation) and some might be more laid back like ours.

10:35

Having been in a similar situation we are stuck picking a Catholic we don't respect or a non-Catholic that we do respect.

Connor law is flawed and a Catholic that can think for themselves and have a healthily relationship with thief beliefs will pick the good person over the bad person. Choices are often limited.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my Jewish college roommate as my third Godchild together with my sister and BIL. She stood up with siter and BIL but didn't speak the affirmations. She was very honored.

She's still not officially a godparent even if she stood up during the ceremony.

OP here. As I stated, I am well aware that our Catholic nephew would be the only "official" godparent, but given that a non-Catholic supporter is permitted to stand and be part of the ceremony, it is extremely rude of you to belittle an event in which someone was "very honored." I was not asking for details on Canon law about who qualifies as official godparents. Let it go.

I think this is something we will just have to bring up with the priest ahead of time. Thank you all for your input. We are looking for a way to honor the special relationship that our friend has developed with our daughter (who is three years old, so we're already in the Catholic dog house), and I know that she would take the role of godparent very seriously. Our nephew on the other hand, well, we needed somebody Catholic. If it cna't be done, we will likely just have our nephew at the actual baptism and on the certificate, and have an outside of church celebration with our friend as her godmother.

You really need to consider what you are doing and why you are doing this. Please talk to the priest (clearly not your priest). You at a minimum need to do baptismal prep class so you know what a Catholic baptism involves, why it is done, what it means. Canon Law is important, it is the rules of the Church. Non-Catholic are fine (even in Canon law) but they have to be Christian. Plus you aren't in the doghouse for baptizing a 3 year old. People of all ages can be baptized.

By your post it seems as though you don't want to do this. Which is completely fine. The priest will ask you about that. Just figure out if this is what you want for your child.

OP, it is fine.

She won't officially be the godparent but very likely the priest will be fine with her standing up there as a witness.

She really shouldn't recite the vows as they are not of her faith tradition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP - why are you even baptizing the baby in the Catholic Church? It sounds like you really think it's a big waste of time.

Good question.

TRADITION. (And putting some $$ in the church's coffers)

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, OP - why are you even baptizing the baby in the Catholic Church? It sounds like you really think it's a big waste of time.

Good question.

Yeah, OP - why are you even baptizing the baby in the Catholic Church? It sounds like you really think it's a big waste of time.

Anonymous wrote:We are planning to have our daughter baptized Catholic this spring. DH is Catholic, I am not, so I’m not up on “what’s done” for these things. I do know that one godparent must be a confirmed Catholic, and the other does not have to be. We have chosen our nephew to be her godfather, and he meets the Catholic requirement. For godmother, we were considering asking a close friend who happens to be Jewish. Is this a major faux pas? Does a second non-Catholic godparent have to be Christian?

My Jewish friend is a godparent for her friend's Catholic children.

Personally, I would tell Jewish friend that he/she is very important to you and you hope that he will be a guiding light in your child's life. But I would not ask him/her to be godparent because that puts him in an awkward position. I would not agree to stand up there and vouch for something I don't believe, and I would say no to anyone who asked me to do so.