May 1, 2009
Questions and answers about Confirmation
By MATT MILLER (Diocesan director, Office of Worship)
This is another part of the series of articles on the questions that were raised last year as a result of Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger’s Town Hall meetings.
The questions
Is it time to re-evaluate the celebration of the sacrament of Confirmation in our diocese? Should we consider moving the celebration of Confirmation at the time of First Communion (restoring the sacraments to the proper order as some other places are doing)? Is high school the best age for the celebration of this sacrament?
The answers
The particulars of the celebration of the sacrament of Con-firmation, especially the appropriate age, have been the subject of conversation in the Church for centuries. In the ancient Church, Confirmation was part of the rites of initiation, and consequently was administered by the bishop immediately after Baptism (to be followed by Eucharist). When, however, Baptism came to be conferred by priests, the two ceremonies were separated in the Western Church. Further, when infant baptism became customary, Confirmation was not administered until the child had attained the use of reason (seven years of age). Even this was not a hard and fast rule, with Confirmation being celebrated for those in danger of death as well as for healthy infants, reflective of the earlier practice of the Church.
When the bishops of the world met at the Second Vatican Council, two of the questions on their mind were revising the sacrament of Confirmation to restore its connection as a sacrament of Initiation, and exploring what the appropriate age for the reception of the sacrament should be. Some wanted the age for Confirmation delayed even later into adolescence, wanting to celebrate Confirmation as more of a sacrament of maturity allowing young people to make a more conscious affirmation of their faith. Others were content with the current standard of the age of reason. Keeping Confirma-tion at this age not only recognized the necessity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for these children, but, in a very practical move, kept the sacraments of initiation in their original order (Baptism, Confirmation and Eu-charist), since seven years old had also become the typical age to receive one’s first Commun-ion. In the end, the group charged with the details of the revision went for compromise, keeping as the norm the previous standard of seven years old but adding the allowance for conferences of bishops to set an age they found more “suitable.”
The bishops of the United States decided to take advantage of this allowance. The latest legislation on this came to us in 2000, and it is the standard on which our current practice is based. The text states that Confirmation in the dioceses in the United States “shall be conferred between the age of discretion and about sixteen years of age, within the limits determined by the diocesan bishop . . . ” (Code of Canon Law, c. 891, complimentary norm). The age of “discretion” is an-other way to say “reason.” This allowed the bishops to establish ages for Confirmation in a way they saw fit. Many dioceses did decide on older ages for Con-firmation, allowing the young people to make a mature commitment to their faith. Some bishops, however, stayed with the younger age (or have recently returned to a younger age) out of respect for the order of the initiation sacraments, among other reasons.
Both concepts have their own positives and negatives. Allow-ing for the “older” young people does give them the opportunity to affirm the commitment made for them by their parents and godparents at Baptism. At the same time, Confirmation for many then becomes a “graduation” from religious education or a carrot to dangle in front of young people to keep them involved in their parish and faith. The sacrament was never intended to be a celebration of Christian adulthood.
Confirming at seven does make it easier to keep the initiation sacraments in their right order and priority. One could argue that today’s children need the gift of the Holy Spirit as soon as possible. The case could also be made that children of this age may not fully comprehend what Confirma-tion is all about, or that there would be nothing to keep children (and their parents) at-tached to the Church. Perhaps this is where the former practice of celebrating “solemn Com-munion” in about eighth grade originated.
In the end the decision rests on the bishop, who is the chief teacher and shepherd of a diocese and the original minister of this sacrament.