We see a variety of depictions of godparents in popular culture and folklore — from fairy godmothers to mob bosses — but what is the actual role of a godparent in the Catholic Church? A listener calls into the show with this very question: “My aunt is having a baby, and she has asked my fiancé and me to be the godparents of her expected child, and so … before we make this big step, I just really want to be educated on what the Church is expecting of us specifically.”
As it happens, the caller will be required by her parish to go on a weekend retreat to prepare to be a godparent, but she’d like to know more about the commitment before she does that. She has been blessed with two godparents who remain very involved in her life and who she describes as almost a “second set of parents.”
Father Dave demystifies the role of a godparent in the Catholic Church, which is often misrepresented in film and television as taking on the responsibility of being the legal guardian to the godchild if something should happen to the parents. But that’s not how the Church defines a godparent’s responsibilities, nor would it even pass legal muster in terms of who becomes a child’s guardian unless it’s included in a will.
Father Dave explains that the role of the godparent is “to assist the parents in their task of raising the child in the faith” and names a couple of ways in which a godparent might do that. For example, “a lot of children, particularly when they get a little older and are in those tween years and teen years, might not want to hear word one or two from mom or dad, but maybe the [godparent can say] ‘Why don’t you go to church with me?’ and pick up the slack in the child’s life.” Or maybe “for the child’s birthday, your role may be giving the child a more religious gift than everybody else gives — maybe it’s not a video game, but a little Bible with their name on the front page.”
Father Dave says that as a godmother, the caller will “help the parents raise the child in the faith.” (Original Air 02-08-17)
