picking godparents

I have two godsons - one is my cousin who is almost 11 now! My brother is the godfather.

The other is my nephew. They picked me and my SIL's brother. She has a huge family, so I guess they wanted to spread the love My brother is my only sibling and I think he wanted me to be involved with their first child. I would've liked it if they would've picked my husband as well, but I understand why they didn't.

I think in the Catholic religion, one of the godparents is supposed to be catholic, and therefore baptized. They also would've asked for a note from my parish, but they baptized the baby within my parish, so I didn't have to produce anything.

I think it probably varies with the church. It's best to call.

When choosing Godparents, one needs to be Catholic, and the other can be another Christian denomination (Protestant, Lutheran etc.). You cannot have a Jewish person or someone who has converted from Catholicism since they have renounced the Catholic faith.

The Catholic Godparent must be baptized and Confirmed. The other, since they would be considered a Christian Witness, needs only to be baptized. They both must be at least 16 years of age.

You don't have to pick a couple at all. My brother and I are my nephew's Godparents. My aunt and a friend of the family are my Godparents.

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Posted by jpsgirl

In my church, the 'witness' does not have to be baptized, and can be Jewish or whatever. But the 'God Parent' has to be catholic (honestly, they never even checked anything, but I guess, who wants to lie to the church...)

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WOW really we are going through this problem right now. The church told us fine to have my brother (my mother is jewish and dad is catholic but we were raised with neither religion) they told us it was fine since DH's sister would be godmother, and she had all of her sacarments. The church called back 2 weeks later, after we asked my brother, and they said no he can't he can't even be a witness!

Do they allow 2 Godparents of the same sex? I can think of 2 people I want for Godfathers but none for Godmothers. I don't think they do but just thought I'd ask

Luckily, my DH and I come from catholic families, so we are are not limited in regard to who we choose.

We based our decision on who we feel would be a strong role model for our kids. The 4 godaprents of our daughters are our bestest friends, and the new baby is 2 more of best friends, it also helps that they just so happen to be our siblings, aunts, cousins, uncles, etc.

It;s tough though, my husband right now is deciding who to choose for the godfather, do we pick the godmother's husband (who is as close to me as a brother) or my cousin who is also as close as a brother to me and VERY invovled in my kids' lives.

I think every church is different. At my church a non-baptized person cannot be a godparent or a witness. A baptized Christian non-Catholic may not be a godparent but may act as a witness. And the godparents must be male and female.

But I can tell you we're having our Christening tomorrow and they never once asked us to provide proof for our Godparents.