Godparent/Sponsor Requirements

A sponsor accompanies another person on a journey of faith. The Catholic Church uses sponsors in these circumstances: the catechumenate, the reception of a baptized candidate, and the confirmation of a Catholic.

“A sponsor accompanies any candidate seeking admission as a catechumen. Sponsors are persons who have known and assisted the candidates and stand as witnesses to the candidates’ moral character, faith, and intention” (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults 10). A separate person may serve as the godparent for baptism.

If the person becoming a Catholic is already a baptized Christian, he or she receives a sponsor as well. “If someone has had the principal part in guiding or preparing the candidate, he or she should be the sponsor” (RCIA 483).

When those baptized Catholic as infants are confirmed later on, they each receive a sponsor for that ceremony. Ideally, the baptismal godparent returns as the confirmation sponsor (Canon 893/2). This practice indicates that the godparent’s work continues throughout life, and it unites the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. However, this ideal is widely ignored among Catholics, who typically choose a different person for the confirmation sponsor.

To be a godparent or a sponsor, a person must have completed the 16th year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause; be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on; and not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared (Canon 874/1).ML