Baptising a baby
Who may be a godparent, and what is asked of them?
Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. Cf. Council of Trent (1546): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum); cf. Col 1:12-14. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. the Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. Cf. CIC, can. 867; CCEO — Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches), cann. 681; 686, 1.
Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them. Cf. LG 11; 41; GS 48; CIC, can. 868.
The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. There is explicit testimony to this practice from the second century on, and it is quite possible that, from the beginning of the apostolic preaching, when whole "households" received baptism, infants may also have been baptized. Cf. Acts 16:15, 33; 18:8; 1 Cor 1:16; CDF — Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, instruction, Pastoralis actio: AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 72 (1980) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1980) 1137-1156.
Baptism is the sacrament of faith. Cf. Mk 16:16. But faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of the Church that each of the faithful can believe. the faith required for Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop. the catechumen or the godparent is asked: "What do you ask of God's Church?" the response is: "Faith!"
For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism. For this reason the Church celebrates each year at the Easter Vigil the renewal of baptismal promises. Preparation for Baptism leads only to the threshold of new life. Baptism is the source of that new life in Christ from which the entire Christian life springs forth.
For the grace of Baptism to unfold, the parents' help is important. So too is the role of the godfather and godmother, who must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized - child or adult on the road of Christian life. Cf. CIC, cann. 872-874. Their task is a truly ecclesial function (officium). Cf. SC 67. The whole ecclesial community bears some responsibility for the development and safeguarding of the grace given at Baptism.
§1. Parents are obliged to take care that infants are baptized in the first few weeks; as soon as possible after the birth or even before it, they are to go to the pastor to request the sacrament for their child and to be prepared properly for it.
§2. An infant in danger of death is to be baptized without delay.
§1. For an infant to be baptized licitly:
1/ the parents or at least one of them or the person who legitimately takes their place must consent;
2/ spes habeatur fundata eum in religione catholica educatum iri, firma §3; quae si prorsus deficiat, baptismus secundum praescripta iuris particularis differatur, monitis de ratione parentibus.
§2. An infant of Catholic parents or even of non-Catholic parents is baptized licitly in danger of death even against the will of the parents.
Insofar as possible, a person to be baptized is to be given a sponsor who assists an adult in Christian initiation or together with the parents presents an infant for baptism. A sponsor also helps the baptized person to lead a Christian life in keeping with baptism and to fulfill faithfully the obligations inherent in it.
There is to be only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each.
§1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor a person must:
1/ be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.
§2. A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community is not to participate except together with a Catholic sponsor and then only as a witness of the baptism.