Is a godparent the same thing as a baptismal sponsor? Who can be a godparent?
Yes, generally the term godparent is equivalent to baptismal sponsor. Who, then, can serve as a baptismal sponsor at a Catholic baptism? Technically, canon law (church law) requires only one sponsor for baptism, but there can be two sponsors, one male [...]

What is a “conditional baptism”?
Consider the language of the following baptismal record from 1913 in Quebec Province, Canada:
“We, the undersigned parish priest, have received the abjuration from heresy of _____, Protestant, adult: also her profession of the Roman Catholic Faith. We have given conditional baptism and absolution.”
This individual was a Protestant being received into the [...]

I feel the need to briefly set the mental scene for this post. It seems for the most part that the posts on this blog are generated from the subject matter which the various authors are feasting on at the time they write their posts. Someone asked if I wouldn’t write my next post on [...]

Beginning in 1907, the Roman Catholic Church worldwide required that a Catholic person’s marriage be reported to his or her place of baptism. The 1907 decree Ne Temere required that marriages be noted on one’s baptismal record. They are usually noted on the side of the baptism record. Compliance with this decree varied, especially in [...]

The other day I was researching in the parish registers of St. Cuthbert’s, an Anglican church in Darlington, County Durham, England. As I was studying these registers, I came across a curious baptismal entry that was recorded in the early eighteenth century. Which of the entries do you think it is?
Look at the entry that reads “A [...]

A great new resource has recently become available for those of us with London ancestors. London is pretty much one of the most difficult places to research in England. This is particularly true for those whose only access to London records is the Internet. Well, at long last, there now exists a substantial database for [...]