My husband and I would like for our two eldest children to be the godparents of our youngest child. Our priest mentioned that one of them has to be at least 16 years old. Our eldest is 14 years old. After thorough thinking, prayer, and reflection, we couldn't come up with better godparents for our youngest than his two eldest siblings. They have a spiritual maturity and faith commitment, which we have been unable to find in any of the "older" godparents we've chosen in the past. We really want to do this right this time around. Is there any particular office in the Vatican to whom we could request a dispensation so we can have our eldest two children be our little one's godparents?

Ma'am--

Canon law states:

To be admitted to undertake the office of sponsor, a person must ... be not less than sixteen years of age, unless a different age has been stipulated by the diocesan bishop, or unless the parish priest or the minister considers that there is a just reason for an exception to be made (canon 874 §1, Code of Canon Law).

Although you could check with your diocese to see if the bishop allows for a younger age of godparent, presumably your priest knows the correct age for his diocese and has determined that "just reason for an exception to be made" does not exist in the case of your children (one of whom must be even younger than age 14). I urge you to respect your priest's decision and find other godparents for your child, not just because of the age consideration but because it could well be problematic to place your younger child under the spiritual authority of your older children, who may not yet be fully mature themselves -- psychologically, emotionally, or spiritually.

If you do not know of anyone suitable for the task, ask your priest to recommend someone. It should not go unmentioned that the priest himself or another priest, deacon, or consecrated religious could be asked to act as godparent to the child.

Michelle Arnold
Catholic Answers

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