Godfather jokes are going to be put on hold for a while. With fears that the Mafia can exploit them, Catholic Church leaders have banned baptismal godparents in one Italian diocese.
In Catania, Italy, religious leaders issued a ban for three years on godparents being named at baptisms.
The announcement was made earlier this month after claims that numerous families were enlisting local power brokers to be their children’s Campari because they are more interested in securing gold necklaces and networking than spiritual leadership, according to the New York Times.
Bishops and priests in the Sicilian region also said they had concerns that the now mostly secular custom will glorify organized crime figures. Archbishop Giuseppe Fiorini Morosini reportedly argued the same point in a letter to Pope Francis in 2014.
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The ban has been met with criticism as some don’t agree with the decision but are interested to see what happens. Msgr. Salvatore Genchi, the vicar general of Catania, shared that the ban is “an experiment.”
Genchi is the godfather to at least 15 godchildren and argued that most of the diocese’s godparents were not ready for the responsibilities, the Times reported.
On the other hand, some, like Rev. Angelo Alfio Mangano, approve of the ban. Mangano shared that he will no longer have to deal with “threats against the parish priest” from those who are using the position for social blackmail and usury.
Some denied that the position was ever used for a member of the Mafia, the times reported. But still, the ban has not been removed, so godparents will have to take a back seat for the next three years.
