(I'm talking about big-C, Roman Catholic, not little-c, universal catholic.)
My good friend and colleague has been asked to be godmother to a baby in June (baby due in May). These are some of her closest friends and she is thrilled. However, she has just learned that she must provide her confirmation certificate and a letter from her parish stating that "she is a practicing Catholic and fit to sponsor a child."
She's gotten the certificate, but she has not been a practising Catholic since her teen years. She's one of the best and most moral people I know, but probably agnostic (if I were guessing).
The bizarre part of it, to me, is that only she is required to have the letter stating that she is practicing, etc.... That is, the other godparent does not have to provide this, and the parents don't, either! They have only to provide their baptismal certificates (they are not practising Catholics!) There is also no required instruction, etc.
Is this sort of structure usual in the Roman church? I remember a recent discussion among some of the Protestant RevGals in the ring about whether they would be willing OR able to baptize a child at the request of a grandparent in their own church ... if the parents were not members there.
Any thoughts, discussion, suggestions? One of the things I love about RevGals is the opportunity to discuss such issues ecumenically.
