Can you christen a child without being married

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If a woman has a child out of wedlock, can she baptize the child in church?

January 13, at am. Chris Cammarata says:. January 14, at pm. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Suscribe to get answers on your email. In the early Church the godparents were sponsors who taught the new Christian, usually an adult, about the faith. Later on when infant baptism became usual, the godparents often took the role of guardians of the child if anything happened to the parents.

Something of these two roles remain today. What is the role of the sponsor at Baptism? The role of the godparent or sponsor at the baptism of a child is to join with the parents in presenting the child and to be a help and support to the child in growing in faith and living the Christian life. The question that is asked of godparents explains this: 'Are you willing to help the parents of this child in their duty as Christian parents?

Only one godparent is required but there may be two. In some cultures it is a common and legitimate custom to allow a greater number. Usually in Australia there are two. It follows from this that the godparent ought also to live out those same Christian values and way of life that the ceremony implies. For this reason the Church requires that the godparent be a confirmed Catholic who has received the Eucharist and lives out the life of faith required by the role.

Must both godparents be Catholic? One godparent must be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has received the Eucharist, and who lives a life worthy of the role that he or she is about to undertake. It is possible to have just the one godparent. Alternatively, an Eastern Orthodox Christian may be a godparent along with the Catholic godparent.

Apart from this situation, as long as one godparent is Catholic, it is permissible for a non-Catholic to act as witness to your child's baptism. It is not possible for an unbaptized person to act as godparent or witness. Does the Catholic Church place any restrictions on who may be a godparent at Baptism? There must be at least one person who is a Catholic who has been confirmed and has received the Eucharist, who is at least sixteen years old. The minister of Baptism may decide that there is a just reason why a person who is not yet 16 may be godparent.

As long as one godparent is Catholic, it is permissible for a non-Catholic to act as witness to a child's baptism. Does a child whose parents are not married have the right to be baptised in the Catholic Church? All that the Church requires is that the parents undertake to do their best to bring the child up as Catholic. Plus, Marlon Brando has never portrayed a "supportive mentor".

One in three Church of England christenings is now of a child between the ages of one and Sort of like a two-for-one deal. But it's only partially about cost, she says. High competition for school places is credited with creating a new phenomenon - the "bogus" baptism - where the primary motivation is to get a child into a faith school.

I did it under duress because that's really the only way I could be sure of getting into my local state school," he says, adding that he felt "embarrassed" and "awkward" during the ceremony. Penman feels the practice is widespread, indicating that the numbers of people attending church "fall off a cliff after the children get past the threshold at which they either get or don't get a [school] place".

The word "bogus" is a bit strong in her case, says Jane, who prefers not give her real name. A lapsed Catholic with a non-religious Jewish husband, she says she'd always wanted her children to have a religious grounding. The most 'bogus' aspect is the time pressure," she says, admitting that she baptised her second child much earlier than her first after reading a parish newspaper warning that Catholic schools would be making the entrance criteria more stringent. It's difficult to gauge how widespread the practice is.

Keane thinks that, if it's an issue at all, it's most likely to be in areas where Christian schools are oversubscribed, such as London. Both he and Stratford think that the preparation time and public nature of services mitigate the likelihood of large numbers doing so. George will be baptised in a replica of the same traditional white christening gown as his father and every monarch since Edward VII.

But it's an increasing rarity. Christenings are big business. Although the tradition for silver gifts still prevails, it seems to be less strictly adhered to. The penchant for silver rattles is waning, says Barrett. Even those sticking to traditional silver may be cutting corners. Babies may still cry from time to time, but it's far less likely to be the shrill shriek after being doused in freezing water. How then would you provide warm water?