Q. 1. I heard that the Catholic Church once had compaters and commaters? What were they?

A. 1. By the end of the 6th century, there were "compaters" and "commaters" in the Catholic Church, these being seen as "spiritual co-parents". They replaced the Godparents or Sponsors that were previously called "spiritual fathers", these having replaced the "Guarantors" of the 5th century.

This time frame, the end of the 6th century, was the beginning of restrictions regarding godfathers marrying their goddaughter, additional barriers being added to godparent relationships until the 11th century.