Baptism Class

Last weekend Trav, our baby's godmother and I went to a Baptism class. New parents have to attend one in our Diocese and godparents are encouraged to attend. I had tried to get out of going, asking our parish priest if we could be exempt but after I didn't ace a pop quiz he gave me, he said I still needed to go.

These were the questions, my answers are in italics.

How old does someone need to be in order to be a godparent?
Old enough to be Confirmed.
(This was right but since I didn't have the age he said it wasn't right. I argued it didn't matter because our godparents would be college grads.)

Can a nonCatholic be a godparent?
It depends on how liberal the priest is. But, no, a nonCatholic is a sponsor or something like that, not a godparent.
(Witness is the correct term, but he counted it as right.)

Can a priest celebrate the Sacrament and be a godfather at the same Baptism?
Yes. I've seen it happen.
Actually, no, he can't.
Oh! That's right, Fr. C was the godfather and Fr. D was celebrating! But ours will be members of the laity.
(So wrong again.)



What did we learn at the class? The history of the Sacrament, most of which none of us knew. But we didn't learn a single thing to better prepare us for the Sacrament or to prepare us to raise our baby Catholic. Basically, the class was exactly what I thought it would be, a beginners look at the Sacrament. If the Diocese is going to make people do this they should at least offer an advanced class for those of us who know and practice our faith. It wasn't the Deacon's fault who was teaching us, he didn't know us one lick (since we had to go to another parish for the class). But we could have taught the class.