Sponsors for Baptism and Confirmation Sacraments, and Witnesses to Marriage in Ecumenical Perspective
Sponsors for Baptism and Confirmation Sacraments, and Witnesses to Marriage in Ecumenical Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The article contains an analysis of old and current canon law on the possibility for non-Catholics to perform the functions of godparents, witnesses of confirmation, and witnesses at marriage. The regulations that are now in force are far from the severity of the old law, which assumed as the rule that the above functions in the Catholic Church should be performed by the Catholics who, at the same time, were not allowed to undertake similar tasks in the other Churches or Christian communities. Exceptions to this rule were relatively rare — especially in case of godparents — and had to be robustly justified. Today’s regulation keeps the general rule, but the possibility of exceptions is quite broad and included in the law, so that it is not necessary to refer to the ecclesiastical superior in individual cases. This relaxation of discipline is due both to ecumenical considerations and to the desire to overcome practical problems, especially in mixed marriages.

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