The compadre (, , , literally "co-father" or "co-parent") relationship between the parents and

godparents In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

of a child is an important bond that originates when a child is

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

in Iberian, Latin American, Filipino Christian and Indian Christian Brahmin families. The abstract noun compadrazgo (Spanish and Filipino), compadrio (in Portuguese), both meaning "co-parenthood," is sometimes used to refer to the institutional relationship between ''compadres''. From the moment of a baptism ceremony, the

(godfather and godmother, ''padrino'' and ''madrina'' in Spanish, ''padrinho'' and ''madrinha'' in Portuguese, and ''ninong'' and ''ninang'' in Filipino) share the parenting role of the baptised child with the natural parents. By Catholic doctrine, upon the child's baptism the godparents accept the responsibility to ensure that the child is raised according to the dictates of the Catholic faith and to ensure the child pursues a life of improvement and success (through education, marriage, personal development, and so forth). At the moment of baptism, the godparents and natural parents become each other's ''compadres'' (the plural form ''compadres'' includes both male and female co-parents). The female equivalent of ''compadre'' is comadre (, , or: ). Thus, the child's father will call the child's godmother "comadre," while she will call him "compadre," and so on. In Portugal, the term is coloquially also used to refer to the parents of both parts of a couple. Traditionally among Iberians and Latin Americans, this relationship formalizes a pre-existing friendship which results in a strong lifelong bond between ''compadres''. In its original form, the ''compadre'' relationship is among the strongest types of family love soon after one's nuclear family. In many Latin American societies, lifelong friends or siblings who have always spoken to each other informally (using the informal Spanish second-person, ''tú'') may mark their new ''compadre'' relationship by using respectful or formal speech (using the formal Spanish second-person, ''usted''). There are a number of other ritual occasions that are considered to result in a ''compadre'' relationship in various Latin American societies. These may include ritual sponsorship of other Catholic sacraments (first communion, confirmation, and marriage); sponsorship of a '' quinceañera'' celebration; and, in Peru, sponsorship of a ritual first haircut ceremony that normally takes place when a child turns three years old. ''Compadrazgo'' has its roots in mediaeval European Catholicism. The

Doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...

Pietro II Orseolo Pietro II Orseolo (961−1009) was the Doge of Venice from 991 to 1009. He began the period of eastern expansion of Venice that lasted for the better part of 500 years. He secured his influence in the Dalmatian Romanized settlements from the Croa ...

worked all his life for creating solid contacts with the contemporary monarchs, achieving good relationships with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. On the other hand, he approximated to

Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

and eventually named him literally with the title of ''compadre'', which meant "the co-father of the Venetian Doge's children". Otto specially liked this, and became the children's godfather.Katus László: Németország történeti gyökerei. In: Rubicon, 1999 1-2, pp. 4-8 The classic Spanish novel

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

(1605–1615) contains several references to ''compadres''; however, the ''compadre'' relationship has much less formal meaning in modern Spain where it is a reference both to a godfather/''padrino'' or just to a best friend, with no reference to any ritual. The expression is in use particularly in southern Spain. In medieval England, parents and godparents called each other "godsibs" (that is, "God siblings"). The only trace of this old Catholic English practice in modern English is the word

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

, presumably a reference to the propensity of close companions such as ''compadres'' to chat and gossip with one another. In Spanish, the verb ''comadrear'' (from ''comadre'') similarly means "to gossip," as does the French cognate ''commérage'' (from ''commère''). The term ''compadre'' has been extended in some regions, such as Brazil to describe a common relationship between two good friends. In the Alentejo region of Portugal, c''ompadre'' is a term used as an informal manner of address between any two, usually elderly, male acquaintances. In Argentina and Paraguay, the word is used in popular speech (especially in the diminutive, ''compadrito'') to mean "braggart, loud-mouth, bully." However, among more traditional Latin American and Hispanic/Latino families, the word retains its original meaning and symbolism, and for its members, to be asked to be a ''padrino'' or ''compadre'' is a great, lifelong honor.

References

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Bibliography

*Alum, R., 1977, "El Parentesco Ritual en un Batey Dominicano itual Kinship in a Dominican Batey" Revista Eme-Eme. Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic: Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra; V (26): 11-36. *Berruecos, L., 1976, El Compadrazgo en América Latina; Análisis Antropológico de 106 Casos. México: Instituto Indigenista Interamericano. *Foster, G., 1953, “Cofradia and compadrazgo in Spain and Spanish America,” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology; 9:1-28. *Gudeman, S.; & S. B. Schwartz, 1984, Cleansing Original Sin; Godparenthood and Baptism of Slaves in 18th-Century Bahia; IN: R. T. Smith, ed.; Kinship Ideology and Practice in Latin America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press; pp. 35–58. *Nutini, Hugo, and Betty Bell, 1980, Ritual Kinship: The Structure of the Compadrazgo System in Rural Tlaxcala. Princeton: Princeton University Press. *Nutini, Hugo, 1984, Ritual Kinship: Ideological and Structural Integration of the Compadrazgo System in Rural Tlaxcala. Princeton: Princeton University Press. *Ossio, J., 1984, Cultural Continuity, Structure, and Context; Some Peculiarities of the Andean Compadrazgo; IN: R. T. Smith, ed.; Kinship Ideology and Practice in Latin America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press; pp. 118–46. *Velez‐Calle, A., Robledo‐Ardila, C., & Rodriguez‐Rios, J. D. (2015). On the influence of interpersonal relations on business practices in Latin America: A comparison with the Chinese guanxi and the Arab Wasta. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(4), 281-293. Latin American culture Baptism

See also

References

Bibliography