It is not only an honor to be a Godparent/Sponsor for a child at Baptism/Confirmation; it is also a great responsibility. Godparents/sponsors promise to help the parents rear the child in the Catholic faith. That means that Godparents/sponsors must also be profoundly Catholic in order to fulfill their responsibilities.

Let’s put it this way, you would want the best baseball coach to teach 
your child how to play ball. In the same way, you would want the best Catholic 
Godparent/sponsor available to teach your child (usually by their example) how to be Catholic. 

So, what are the requirements of a Godparent/sponsor in the Catholic Church? 

1. For Baptism, every child must have at least one Godparent and no more than two Godparents. If there are two Godparents, one must be a male and one must be a female. 

2. A Godparent/sponsor must be a Sacramentally Confirmed Catholic who has already received Holy Communion. 

3. A Godparent/sponsor should be at least 16 years old. 

4. A Godparent/sponsor may not be the mother or father of the child to be baptized. 

5. A Godparent/sponsor must lead a life of faith in keeping with the role and responsibilities to be undertaken. Thus a Godparent/sponsor must :

• attend Mass regularly,
• not be cohabiting, and,
• if married, their marriage must be recognized by the Catholic Church. 

6. A statement attesting to the good standing of the person proposed to be the 
Godparent/sponsor must be obtained from their proper parish. Or, if they are already members of Holy Infant Parish, the pastor must confirm their good standing and ability to fulfill the above requirements. This statement should be presented to 
Holy Infant Parish at least two weeks before the scheduled baptism. A person 
without this statement often called a Sponsor Certificate) cannot serve as a 
Godparent. Try to prevent embarrassing a person by asking them to serve as 
a Godparent/sponsor, knowing that they are not practicing the Catholic faith, are in 
an invalid marriage, etc., and will be unlikely to obtain this statement from 
their proper pastor. 

 

OTHER QUESTIONS: 

What if I can’t find a person qualified to be a Godparent/sponsor? Sadly, this is sometimes the case. Perhaps one or both of the child’s grandparents could be the Godparent. Maybe a neighbor, or a parishioner could serve as the Godparent. If it comes to it, the pastor could provide a suitable and qualified Godparent for your child. While this is obviously not ideal, it is still better than giving the child an unqualified Godparent, someone that he or she cannot look up to as a role model for living the Catholic way of life.