You are most probably right Joanne! When my ten year old was the godfather to our youngest, the godmother was my own aunt, who was past middle age:) Her godmother passed away in 1995 but she still have her brother as her godfather! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and insight!
Susan On Feb 8, 2016, at 12:30 PM, Joanne Mercier <[email protected]> wrote: > It is possible that a priest would have fudged the age requirement as long as > the teens were already Confirmed - that requirement weighs most against a > year or 2 age differential. Then there are other priests who use liberal > doses of "pastoral judgement" for any number of personal reasons and their > actions can cause some confusion when trying to track down or understand this > kind of information. In the case of your older son, for example, if the > godmother for your younger son met all the church requirements then the > priest allowed, without explanation, your older son to "stand in" and may or > may not have included him in the official records because, again by law, only > 1 godparent is really required at a baptism (a little known fact in 2 are > considered traditional and rarely discouraged). I won't judge the resulting > action but it might have helped you understand the process better had he > explained what he was doing at the time. > > Just so you know, this is the area of Catholic Church I work in so I am very > well versed in it. If I don't know an answer regarding church records I at > least know where to look it up or who to ask for clarification. When I retire > I might try that rainy day project and look closer at the godparents of my > ancestors - might be fun! > > Joanne Grota Mercier > >> On Feb 8, 2016, at 1:29 PM, 'Susan Murphy' via Azores Genealogy >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I believe you are right but on just a personal note on our family......two >> of our siblings ages 14 and 15 were godparents to one of my sons in 1968, my >> cousin age 15 was godmother to my oldest in 1966, and our oldest son aged >> 10, was godfather to our youngest in 1977. These were in three different >> parishes in California. There was no mention of any problem with their ages >> at the baptisms. >> >> It would be interesting to look at our Azorean records as we could figure >> this out many times if we have extracted the records of the siblings of the >> parents as they were so often the godparents.....one of those rainy day >> projects, LOL. >> >> Susan Vargas Murphy >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Feb 8, 2016, at 8:12 AM, Joanne Mercier <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> According the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law the age is 16 unless a >>> bishop establishes it otherwise. This has been in effect for centuries and >>> remains so today. >>> >>>> On Feb 7, 2016, at 10:24 PM, Sme <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> Hello. >>>> >>>> Does anyone know or have a good guess as to what age "children" were able >>>> to act as godparents in a baptism in the 1600s and up? >>>> >>>> Thank you. >>>> Suzanne >>>> >>>> -- >>>> For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail >>>> (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right >>>> that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Azores Genealogy" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to [email protected]. >>>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail >>> (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. 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