The Peace Weekly has a 'cover story' on godparents and their godchildren. Godparents are to guide their godchildren in the life of faith but this is not what happens. Often it is only a name that goes in the baptismal book, and merely a formality that one follows, without meaning. Godparents are to pray, and lead their godchildren in imitating Jesus but few take the responsibility with any seriousness.
The Weekly prepared a questionnaire that was given to 446 parishioners to determine the situation in the present Church. According to the questionnaire over 50 percent have no contact with their godchild. 38 percent of the godchildren have no contact with their godparents. 15 percent do not know who their godparents are.
55 percent say the distancing from the godparents came from the lack of contact. 25 percent said that they didn't know the godparent when they were baptized so quickly lost contact. To prevent this from happening a priest is quoted with five steps to be a good godparent. Praying for the godchild, talk and listen to them, study to answer their questions, introduce them to the liturgy of the Church, and keep in contact with the godchild.
How is the situation going to improve? One suggestion in the article from a Sunday school teacher recommends to match the godparents with the ones to be baptized into three groups: infants and children, young people, and adults-- for infants close relatives, for young people Sunday school teachers and devoted young people, and for adults, members of the different societies in parish communities.
Serious efforts to change the way godparents are chosen and programs to educate those who are in such a spiritual relation will do much to change the atmosphere of a parish and make for a community of faith.
