Rodzic chrzestny i świadek chrztu w świetle prawodawstwa kościelnego
The Godparent and Baptism Witness in the light of church legislation

Summary/Abstract: In the article the code legislator position has been presented concerning the person of the God-parent and baptism witness. The institution of the God-parent and baptism witness has been described first in its historical aspect. Information on that subject are comprised in such works as: Gratian decree, Boniface VIII Liber Sextus, the teaching of Trent church council, Canonical Law Code of 1917, teaching of Vatican II church council, Church liturgical books, Canonical Law Code of 1983, the Eastern Churches Canonical Codes of 1990. The code legislator demanded certain qualifications from the persons fulfilling these functions e.g.: appropriate age, to be baptized and be a believer, be a member of the Catholic Church or ecclesial community. These persons also had to fulfill certain tasks. The God Parent who presented the child for baptism was to take care of the baptized child to lead a Christian way of life. The Baptism witness could be a baptized person belonging to a non-catholic ecclesial community together with a Catholic Godfather. A person belonging to an Orthodox Church could be a God parent together with a Catholic Godfather. The main task of the witnesses is to give evidence of arisen incident. The same task is also borne upon the baptism witness if the fact of accepting the sacrament needs to be proved. In this analysis one can see an enormous care of the Church that the function of the God parent and Baptism witness is fulfilled by appropriate persons predisposed to this. Discussing the care of Church one should remember that this action and care is visible any time during the lifetime of this particular community.

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