SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Msgr. David Gallivan, the Pastor at Holy Cross Church in Buffalo, devoted a column in the Western New York Catholic to his reflections about what it means to be a godparent. His observations were precise, clear and on-target so he has given us permission to reprint his thoughts. In his article, he is talking about sponsors for Baptism but his comments also apply to Confirmation. Please contact Fr. Joe Porpiglia if you have any questions about being a godparent for Baptism or a sponsor for Confirmation.

THOUGHTS WHILE PASTORING

Please clip this article and give it the new parents in your family. This is what the church expects when people select godparents for a baby. I will quote directly from the Code of Canon Law (the rulebook of the church). The sponsor or godparent must be able to help the newly baptized “…to lead a Christian life in harmony with baptism, and to fulfill faithfully the obligations connected with it.” Why would one even consider having a godparent who doesn’t belong to a Catholic community, go to Mass or for whom the church is unimportant? “Only one male or one female” can be a sponsor. If there are two, one must be male, the other female. The sponsor must be at least 16 years old and/or confirmed. If a 14 or 15 year-old his been confirmed, pastoral exceptions can be made. The sponsor must have received First Communion. A baptized person who belongs to another Christian church (Protestant, Evangelical, Baptist, etc.) may not be a godparent. He/she may act as a “Christian Witness” but only together with a Catholic Sponsor.

 How do we know that a person is eligible to be a sponsor? A practicing Catholic is almost always known by the priest in his/her parish. If the baptism is to occur in another parish, I would write a note to my colleague stating that the person is a parish member and participates in the sacramental life of the parish. Incredibly, some people expect me to lie about this. Think about it this way. When you select a sponsor for your child, you are saying to that child, “This person is a model for you to imitate as you grow and live your Catholic faith.” Why on earth would you pick someone who does not join us for Mass on the weekend, doesn’t receive the Body and Blood of Christ and never or hardly ever does anything that would identify him/herself as a real honest-to-God Catholic?  Why would you ever select someone who once was Catholic, but has joined another church? Apparently such a person was not happy as a Catholic. How can he/she be a role model for your Catholic baby?

 A word about the parents. Canon Law (and common sense) says this: there must be“…a founded hope that the infant will be brought up in the Catholic religion; if such a hope is altogether lacking, the baptism is to be put off…and the parents are to be informed of the reason.” I can’t predict that particular parents or godparents will always be model Catholics. However, as a pastor I can insist that the parents and godparents demonstrate at least a minimum amount of good will and openness, along with the other requirements of Canon Law. Some say that to require Mass attendance a few times before the Baptism is hypocritical.  They say that most people will stop attending after the baptism. I would point out that it is the parents/godparents who freely stand by the baptismal font and publicly answer, “I do,” when asked about their intention to practice the Catholic faith and provide Catholic formation for the baby. Where is the hypocrisy? Please consider wisely your choice to be your child’s godparent. You wouldn’t entrust the child’s welfare to a stranger. Please don’t entrust your child’s faith to someone who is a stranger to the church.