My husband and I are expecting our second child. My choice is to have my Uncle who we are very close too and My sister in law( husbands sister) the problem is My SIL in not a practicing catholic, but my Uncle is. But we are very close to her and she loves my daughter and they are very close. Could she be considered the witness in this situation?
My sister and my husbands best friend are my older daughters godparents, and are involved in her life. I have another sister, but we are not very close.
We dont have any other people we would choose.
My husband is Jewish and I am only technically Catholic, I suppose, since I was baptized as a child, and we do not practice either religion. Somehow my sister got us in on a technicality I guess, :) b/c we are godparents to my nephew. I think the most important thing is the godparents commitment to the child, not their commitment to a religion.
We're catholic and you only need one of the God parents to be a catholic. Our SIL is a baptist and she stood w/ my brother.
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When you're Catholic and you choose godparents, the church you're having the baptism in is going to ask the godparents to get these notes (I forget what they're called) from their own parish that are all official looking that essentially state that they're good and practicing Catholics. Someone who is not Catholic but is still Christian would be a Christian Witness and would not require such a document. If any of the prospective godparents belong to the same church as the one where you're holding the baptism, those godparents would not need the document. And technically, in the Catholic Church a child needs to have only one godparent.
I believe, according to the Catholic religion, only one god-parent has to be a practicing Catholic. This is what was told to me when I had both of my children baptized (at different times and different churches). In both cases only one of the god parents were practicing Catholics and it was not an issue what-so-ever.
Good luck and congratulations on the new baby!
It may vary church to church, but we picked two godparents that were not married in the Catholic Church, so we had to pick someone as the official Godparent and then this couple were the "witnesses" but in our hearts they are the Godparents of our child. But our priest, who is quite strict, said that we only needed one Godparent who was a practicing Catholic. I think it makes sense to choose people whom you want to be important in your child's life. And if those people will follow your wishes, that should be what's important. So I would say ask first, but your plan to have your Uncle and SIL sounds like a very good one.
I think a godparent choice should be based on the child's needs not religion. While I understand the importance of religion, the child's happiness and safety come first. If you choose your uncle and sister in law and they are very close like you say then even if she isn't catholic she will make sure your daughter is still catholic if she is in her care. Like a mom said below she can be a christian witness.
Only one godparent needs to be "practicing", but both need to be baptised as Christian. My husband is not Catholic, but we attend Mass weekly as a family and chose Catholic godparents for our son. My sister and BIL wanted us to be godparents to my niece, so I am the "Catholic" godparent and he is her godfather, but is listed as a "Christian witness".
Pick people who will be active in your child's life, that's the important part. I'm 32 and my godparents still attend EVERY single thing that I do.... graduations (4 of them), showers, wedding, my child's baptism... it's a great role to have in a child's life!
I think it is true that only one of the godparents must be a practicing Catholic since technically a child only needs one godparent. Although, you should definitely ask your priest because the decision is ultimately up to him. The whole point of having godparents is that their job is to teach the child the faith and take him or her to church if the parents fail to do it for any reason. So, it doesn't really make sense to have a non-Catholic godparent unless you feel confident this person would fulfill this duty which they promise to do at the baptism.
If memory serves me correctly, a Godparent is supposed to vow to look after the child's religious (or faith) education. If you're Catholic (I'm a former Catholic myself) and it's important that your child is brought up in the Catholic faith, then chosing someone who isn't Catholic doesn't make much sense. A lot of people think a Godparent is someone the parents chose to TAKE THEIR PLACE in caring for the child if the parents should die. This is not the case - you should have your wishes recorded in a WILL for that purpose.
Absolutely not! She will be the godmother!
I was asked to be godmother for a friends baby. I'm not a practicing Catholic but I was very much part of the ceremony. This baby has 2 godfathers and 2 godmothers and we each had a special part in the baptism.
It was important to me that my child's Godparents be able to instruct and help nurture my son's relationship with God - I think it is such a cool concept. Since we didn't have anyone close to us that would be able to preform this role (outside of my parents), I thought it best to have none than to name two people who weren't Christians.
