If you are a registered parishioner of Saint Catherine Labouré Parish and wish to obtain a Sponsor Certificate for either the Sacrament of Baptism or the Sacrament of Confirmation, please click on the link below.
Once you have completed the form and selected the Submit button, please print the form, sign it, and bring it to the Office to be reviewed, signed by the Pastor, and forwarded to the appropriate parish, if need be.
To insure that you receive your certificate in time for the sacrament, please submit the completed form a minimum of two weeks prior to the date needed.
Sponsors from other parishes are asked to contact their own parish to obtain a sponsor letter. Alternately, sponsors may fill out the form below, print it, and take it to their own parish for approval; afterwards, please forward the certificate to St. Catherine Labouré Parish, 4000 Derry St., Harrisburg, PA 17111.
Please fill out the Sponsor Certificate Request Form
Please note:
It is the duty of the sponsors by reason of their position ever to regard their godchild as a personal charge, and in all that pertains to his Christian upbringing to watch over the godchild faithfully, so that in the godchild’s whole life the godchild may prove true to the promises which they once solemnly spoke for the godchild. [Roman Ritual: De Sacramento Baptismi Rite Administrando §38, De Patrinis, adapted]
The Code of Canon Law describes the role and requirements of the Godparents:
- Can. 872 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.
- Can. 873 There is to be only one male sponsor or one female sponsor or one of each.
- Can. 874 §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; [Pastor’s note: in addition to attendance at Sunday Mass and living by faith in Christ, if a sponsor is in a domestic relationship, that person must be validly married in the Church. In short, a sponsor must be either genuinely single or married in the Church. No exceptions will be made to this. If your designated Godparent is not validly married, your options are to either 1) wait until the person rectifies the situation through marriage or separation from the domestic partner or 2) designate another person to be the sponsor.]
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 (note: this person is commonly known as a “Christian witness”). However, for a just cause, an Orthodox Christian may serve as a Godparent, together with a Catholic Godparent. [cf. Directory for the Application of Principles and Norm on Ecumenism 98b]