Goodbye to the godfathers and godmothers: the Catholic Church proposes to remove them during the baptism

Gone are the days when godfathers and godmothers actively participated in baptisms, at least in the Catholic Church; That is what the new proposal by Monsignor Giacomo Cirulli, bishop of three dioceses in the province of Caserta, in the Campania region of southern Italy, is all about.

This does not mean that all the baptized people and that the names of their godparents appear in their baptismal certificate will magically disappear, on the contrary, it is only a proposal that will probably come into force in the coming weeks.

Through a statement on the Alife-Caiazzo Facebook page, the argument talks about the role of godparents, which is being reduced to a social custom and a formalism.

“In the current socio-ecclesial context, the office of godfathers and godmothers has lost, to a great extent, its original value. The mission linked to these figures, in fact, consists of accompanying the catechumens who are going to be confirmed throughout the entire journey of faith and not only at the time of the celebration of the Sacrament”, can be read in the release.

The proposal will be promulgated on March 20 and will enter into force on April 9, for the next three years.

For his part, Monsignor Cirulli commented that this proposition is not new, in fact, the presence of these figures was already declared as something not mandatory, this according to the Code of Canon Law.

The intention is not to completely eliminate the godparents, but to recover the identity and mission they had at the beginning.

“They will have the delicate task of accompanying, during this three-year period, the progress of the new practice and, at the same time, studying possible new forms of accompaniment that recover the true ecclesial meaning of the office of godfather and godmother,” the proposal states.

In 2017, the Italian Monsignor Gianfranco Todisco also adopted a similar measure. Both decisions have been endorsed by Pope Francis.