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Dear Confused,
You're right, this is a strange one!
Lay people are permitted to baptize
only in danger of death, or when
so delegated by a priest.
To the degree that you were aware of this,
your Baptism was irregular — if in
fact you were
— I'd encourage you to discuss
it with a priest in Confession.
You said:
Add
to that, my grandmother and the mother of
the child have asked me to be the Godfather
and take part in a Christening . . .
Turning to your present situation,
it depends on the nature of the Christening.
Typically a Christening is a Baptism.
If it is a full Baptism, I'd have
no part of it, as it would be invalid.
However, when emergency Baptisms
are done, follow-up rites are also
done to complete the Baptism. Essentially, everything but the actually pouring
of the water and invocation of the
Trinity are done. Perhaps this is
what is meant by christening.
If this is so, then you can be a
Godfather, assuming:
- you practice your faith
- are not canonically impeded,
and
- are willing to take seriously
the obligation to see to this
child's Catholic education should
something happen to the parents.
Eric
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