2023-07-28 15:30:00
July 28, 2023 / 8:30 a.m.
The Bishop of the diocese of Sulmona-Valva, Italy, Mons. Michele Fusco has decided to definitively “abolish” in his ecclesial jurisdiction the presence of godfathers and godmothers for Baptism and Confirmation.
This decision, endorsed by a special decreewas taken after more than three years of discernment, confirmed Bishop Fusco in a telephone dialogue with ACI Prensa on Friday, July 28.
According to the Bishop, the decision is based on the fact that previously godparents were chosen “by different criteria and purposes (kinship, friendship, interest), without taking into account their specific role”, which is “to transmit the faith and bear witness to it in the first place person”.
The measure has been implemented and put into practice at the end of the triennium, and was adopted after consulting the College of Consultors and the Presbyteral Council. “The abolition of godparents and godmothers in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation is unlimited in time,” Bishop Fusco wrote in the abolition decree.
In recent years, other dioceses in Italy have also taken similar steps. However, it is important to mention that, at a general level in the Catholic Church, the role of godfathers and godmothers in Baptism and Confirmation continues in force.
The Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) suggests carefully selecting godparents and godmothers. Although the measure has generated some controversy, it seeks to recover the original role of godparents in the Catholic Church.
The dioceses in southern Italy that have abolished the figure of godfathers and godmothers for an “unlimited time” or “ad experimentum” are: Region of Calabria (2014), the Archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati, Calabria region (February 22, 2017), Catania, Palermo (January 31, 2023), Marzalla del Vallo, Agrigento in Sicily (November 27, 2022)Teano-Calvi, Alife-Caiazzo and Sessa Aurunca, Campania region (March 20, 2023), among others, and now also the small diocese of Sulmona-Valva, ecclesiastical province of L’Aquila, which in turn belongs to the ecclesiastical region of Abruzzo-Molise.
Catechumenate of godfathers and godmothers
The CEI has invited to reformulate the function of godfathers and godmothers due to the difficulties in finding people who accompany the children in the preparation for the sacraments and are examples of faith.
The Italian bishops in the document We meet Jesus (let’s find jesus), N.70, suggests that the choice of godparents be done carefully, making sure that they are people mature in faith and representative of the community, approved by the parish priest and capable of accompanying the candidate on his way to the sacraments.
Can grandparents and parents be godparents?
Nor do they recommend that parents be “the godparents of their children. Even grandparents, due to their generating and educational function”, since “it is not convenient for them to play the role of godfathers and godmothers”. And as regards, in particular, “Confirmation,” the CEI affirms, “this function can be adequately assumed by a catechist or educators.”
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The controversy over the abolition of godparents in Italy
In the year 2022, The New York Times launched a headline that caused discomfort among the Bishops of Sicily, a southern island: “In the country of The Godfather, their ban is coming” (In the Land of the Godfather Comes a Ban on Them). On that occasion, some bishops lamented that narrative, which they considered tendentious.
The New York newspaper read that “pastoral decision” as a deterrent against the mafia culture of “affiliations.” However, the decision to suspend the function of the godfather and godmother – according to the Sicilian dioceses – had nothing to do with the mafia, but with a breach of the original religious, ecclesial and catechetical function, as confirmed by the CEI.
In it text of the Italian bishops, mentioned above, the importance of carefully selecting godparents and preparing them adequately for their role is emphasized. However, the decision to allow close people, even if they do not meet all the requirements, to act as witnesses in the sacramental rite is left to the Regional Episcopal Conferences.
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