Thursday of the First Week of Lent
March 13, 2014

Prayer:

Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, a spirit of always pondering on what is right and of hastening to carry it out, and, since without you we cannot exist, may we be enabled to live according to you will.

Scripture:

Create a clean heart in me, O God; give back to me the joy of you salvation.

Question of the Day:

Can the baptism of my new infant daughter take place in another church other than my own parish church? Do both sponsors for baptism need to be Catholic?
  The answer to your questions can be found by looking in Book Four of the Code of Canon law. First, concerning the lawful place of baptism, canon 857 § 2 states that: "As a rule and unless a just reason suggest otherwise, an adult is to be baptised in his or her proper parish church, and an infant in the proper parish church of the parents." It is important to stress that baptism accomplishes four things: (1) freedom from sin, (2) rebirth as a child of God, (3) imprints an indelible character on the one baptised, and (4) incorporates the newly baptised into the Church (see canon 849). This incorporation into the Church is done by incorporation into the local parish community. It will be in that local parish where the newly baptised will celebrate, most if not all, the central mysteries of the faith ... confirmation, eucharist, etc. Hence, this particular canon points out the importance of adults being baptised in their own parish church where they have a residence or quasi-residence and infants baptised in the parish church of their parents where they have a residence or quasi-residence. Exceptions can and are made to this general rule for a just reason. In addition, one should keep in mind that one of the sacred functions entrusted to the pastor of a parish is the administration of baptism (see canon 530, 1̊). If baptism were to be administered in another parish church, then the due permission of the proper pastor is required (see canon 862).


Canons 872-874 deal specifically with the role of the sponsor at baptism. By turning to canon 872 one finds a description of that role, especially in the case of infant baptism. Along with the parents, the sponsor(s) present the child for baptism, helps the child to live a Christian life befitting the baptised and encourages the baptised to faithfully fulfill the duties inherent in baptism. So then, the role of sponsor is an important one, not to be taken lightly. The next canon (873) states that one sponsor, male or female , is sufficient. However, there may be two. Those to be sponsors at baptism are usually appointed by the candidate to be baptised, in the case of an adult, or by the parents, if the one to be baptised is an infant.

The qualifications of those appointed to be sponsors are found in canon 874. They are as follows:
over the age of sixteen ( another age could be determined for a just reason by the proper authorities;be a Catholic who has been confirmed and received their First Communion, and who lives a life befitting the role of sponsor; not under any canonical sanctions; not the parents of the one to be baptized.


Since the sponsor plays a representative role for the community of faith, paragraph two of this canon lays down the norm that a non-Catholic may not act as a sponsor at baptism. However, provision is made that this individual could be admitted in company with a Catholic sponsor as a witness only.