Parsippany priest gives talk on the important role of godparents/sponsors
By CECILE PAGLIARULO, Reporter

PARSIPPANY  When a baby is about to be baptized, a future godparent may gleam with excitement as they help choose the baptismal dress or suit and plan the celebration after the event. But with all the celebration that goes on around the Sacrament of Baptism, more spiritually and deeply, Father Cesar Jaramillo, parochial vicar of St. Peter the Apostle Parish here, reminds all perspective godparents or sponsors that it’s more than acting as a host but making a life-long commitment to the newly-baptized child.

At a virtual Faith Formation Convocation hosted by the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island last month, Father Jaramillo, who is also Defender of the Bond in the diocesan Tribunal Office, spoke as a guest for the Spanish-speaking track on the subject of the role of sponsors/godparents in the Sacra­ment of Baptism.

With a background in Canon Law, he shared his insights and gave deeper understanding about the responsibilities that godparents and sponsors have.

“According to the Canon 872 of the Code of Canon Law, ‘the sponsor’s role is to assist the person in Christian initiation’ and ‘in the case of an infant baptism, the role is together with the parents to present the child for baptism and to help the child to live a Christian life befitting the baptized and faithfully to fulfill the duties inherent in Baptism,’ ” Father Jaramillo said.

He shared the history of sponsors and when the tradition first emerged during the Roman persecution of the early Christians. According to Father Jaramillo, the role of the sponsor was a way for the Church to discern whether the person wanting to be incorporated into the Church through Baptism was indeed “genuine in his or her intent.” That meant that they were not acting as a spy for Roman authorities to turn the Christians over to the authorities. If they were, this could have had disastrous consequences for the early communities of Christians, who were targeted by the Roman Empire that was hostile to the message of the Gospel. The sponsor assured the ecclesiastical leaders and the community that the new Christian was transparent in their intention to join the faith.

“With the passing of time, the praxis organically developed into what we have now,” said Father Jaramillo, “Nowadays it is common praxis to baptize children a few months after they’re born — or at least this is what the actual legislation of the Church recommends — but the role of sponsor has thus gained greater importance since he or she commits to help the parents of the child in bringing him or her up in the faith and leading them to a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.”

After giving a history about the role of a sponsor, Father Jaramillo gave a critical explanation about the canon and spoke about the canonical requisites that need to be met in order to serve the role validly and effectively.

“Sponsors should be active and practicing Catholics. I usually compare them to a surgeon to whom we would have a hard time entrusting our lives in the operating room if we knew he had not practiced or kept up to date with his or her science in health care for more than 10 or 20 years. We are talking about the journey of discipleship of the child to be baptized and the salvation of his or her soul. It is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly or conferred by the parents upon anyone who is not intentionally pursuing a life that is congruent to the Gospel.”

The priest, who was ordained in 2017, is himself a sponsor to one child and is putting into practice the important role he plays in his godson’s life. He does stress the importance that while it is an honor to be asked to be a sponsor for a child’s baptism, he encourages people to not have an exaggerated number of godchildren if they cannot journey with each of them in their life of faith.

“I found the Faith Formation Convocation to be a great tool for the New Evangelization, especially in regards to the outreach to the Hispanic community,” he told The Beacon. “It was a great vehicle by means of which catechetical leaders and parents were reminded of the fact that a sponsor’s role is not synonymous with that of a host. It goes far beyond paying for the child’s baptism garment and celebratory lunch or dinner. It’s a life-long commitment to aid the parent’s in the raising of the child in the faith and to help the Church form a more intentional disciple, for the greater glory of God and the upbuilding of his kingdom.”

Taken from The Beacon, April 15, 2021 edition, https://patersondiocese.org/news/the-role-of-godparents-sponsors