Most RCIA team members know that, for the purposes of the rite, an “adult” is anyone who has reached catechetical age.* That means that if an unbaptized child who has reached catechetical age wishes to be baptized, he or she is also confirmed and receives first communion at the moment of baptism.
It also means that children who were baptized into a Christian tradition other than Catholic (or Eastern Orthodox) are confirmed at the time of their reception into full communion (see Canon 885.2).
When we say this to Catholics who are not involved with RCIA, they look at us like we have been sneaking the communion wine again.
If we say it again, this time like we mean it, that we really are going to confirm seven-year-old Suzie, and maybe her six-year-old brother, too — they get angry.
How could we…
- confirm children who are too young to understand the full meaning of the sacrament?
- deny them the opportunity to make an adult choice for faith?
- take away their motivation to stay in church until they are teens?
- make them stand out as different than their peers?
- be so unfair to the Catholic children who have to wait for confirmation?
What is adult faith?
These reactions are understandable because we have miscatechized several generations of Catholics about the meaning of the sacrament of confirmation. Most Catholics who were born in the United States after about 1930 were taught that confirmation is a “sacrament of maturity” that required extensive preparation and knowledge in order to be received fruitfully. However, this is not correct. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
Although Confirmation is sometimes called the “sacrament of Christian maturity,“ we must not confuse adult faith with the adult age of natural growth, nor forget that the baptismal grace is a grace of free, unmerited election and does not need “ratification“ to become effective. St. Thomas reminds us of this:
“Age of body does not determine age of soul. Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity: as the book of Wisdom says: ‘For old age is not honored for length of time, or measured by number of years.’ Many children, through the strength of the Holy Spirit they have received, have bravely fought for Christ even to the shedding of their blood.” (1308)
The full meaning of confirmation
I can’t tell you the full meaning of confirmation. Confirmation is a sacrament. “Sacrament” is a Latin-based word that replaced an earlier Greek-based word: mystery. Confirmation is a participation in the mystery of Christ, and as such, cannot be fully explained. We can attempt partial explanations, which you can find in the Rite of Confirmation, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, Canon Law, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. But, in this life, we can never fully understand the meaning of confirmation. It is hubris to think that a seventh-grader will “understand” confirmation.
An adult choice for faith
Claiming that we make an adult choice for faith is a bit of heresy. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The initiative for “choosing faith” comes from God. God first chooses us and then calls us to faith. We can accept or reject God’s gift, but our “choice” makes no difference as far as God’s acceptance of us is concerned. As the Catechism says, “unmerited election and does not need ‘ratification’ to become effective.”
Delaying confirmation keeps kids in church
Forcing children to wait until seventh grade or high school to celebrate confirmation may keep their bodies in the pews, but it will not necessarily keep their hearts focused on Christ. In fact, what keeps children in church is parental involvement in the faith-lives of their children and active involvement in the parish — regardless of what age their children are confirmed. If parish leaders want children to stay in church, they will have way more success with developing spiritual parenting skills than they will by delaying confirmation.
Forcing children to wait until seventh grade or high school to celebrate confirmation may keep their bodies in the pews, but it will not necessarily keep their hearts focused on Christ.
Children confirmed at catechetical age will stand out from their peers
These days, it is getting harder and harder to define peers as “just like me.” Peer groups are made up of children from different countries or ethnic backgrounds, different musical or athletic interests, different family structures, and different social or economic backgrounds. Why do we draw the line at confirmation when it comes to “being the same”? St. Paul says “there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (1 Cor 1:12).
Confirming children at catechetical age is unfair to the children who have to wait
This reminds me of the story Jesus told about the landowner who hired workers for his vineyard. Some of the workers started at dawn, others at 9 a.m., and others at noon. Some started as late as 5 p.m. And at the end of the day, everyone got paid the same. The workers who showed up early cried “unfair!” (see Mt 20:-1-16). Of course it is not unfair for God to give the gifts of the Holy Spirit to whomever God wants, whenever God wants! If the parents of Catholic children are truly miffed that other children are being gifted by God in the sacrament of confirmation, they can request the celebration of the sacrament for their own children at any time.
Canon Law says: “Confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful about the age of discretion.” The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said that in the U.S., the age for celebrating the sacrament of confirmation between “the age of discretion (about age 7) and about 16 years of age.” Your diocese has set a preferred age within that range. However, a bishop may not refuse to confer the sacrament on younger children who request it, provided they are baptized, have the use of reason, are suitably instructed and are properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises (letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published in its 1999 bulletin, pages 537–540).
Conclusion
The bottom line for Catholic parishes is that unbaptized children of catechetical age must be confirmed when they are baptized. The same is true for baptized, non-Catholic children who are being received into full communion. They must be confirmed at their reception. This is not only the teaching of the church, it is a huge pastoral benefit to these children and their families. We are not allowed to deny or delay the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to them by God. Nor should we want to.
*The age of reason is often presumed to be seven-years-old, but not everyone attains the use of reason at that age. And some children attain the use of reason earlier than seven.
Thank you for this clear explanation. You make it clear for unbaptized children and for baptize non-Catholic children. Is it possible to address children who are Roman Catholic and uncatechized, asking for the sacraments later than their peers? For instance a 4th grader returning with no catechesis when the norm is to receive First Eucharist in 2nd grade. Thank you.
Hi Christine. A baptized Catholic child would be subject to the diocesan guidelines for confirmation. His beginning level of catechesis is irrelevant as long as he is considered “ready” at the time of his confirmation. So if a Catholic child begins his formation at fourth grade, he would celebrate first communion whenever he is discerned to be “ready,” and he would normally celebrate confirmation at the diocesan-approved age.
However, if a child is discerned to be ready for first communion, he is also ready for confirmation. There is no requirement for readiness for confirmation that is greater than readiness for first communion. So the parents of the fourth grade child could request that the bishop confirm him at the time of his first communion.
Why don’t we confirm children who were baptized as babies when they children receive communion (and penance)? It would seem that your arguments would favor this as well.
Hi Eugene. More and more dioceses are doing just what you suggest — celebrating confirmation at the time of first communion. However, in the United States, the preferred age of confirmation is up to the individual bishop. So if your bishop has set a later age, then you would have to make a special request to have a younger child celebrate confirmation in your diocese.
I really appreciate this article. It is so often misunderstood.
Could you speak a bit more on children who have been baptized Catholic but never received Eucharist or Confirmation. I believe we call them uncatechized. What about the children who join the PREP program in 3rd, 4th and above and have never received first Eucharist. Should they be Confirmed before they receive First Eucharist? Do they have a place in the RCIA process? In my experience they just try to catch them up and prepare them for First Eucharist and then they fall into the Confirmation program. There is resistance there by DRE’s to let them participate in the RCIA process and receive Confirmation before Eucharist. A lot of territorial things going on here.
Does the pastor have permission to confirm them if they participate in the process?
Hi Elaine. See my reply to Christine above. In an ideal world, a child who begins his Christian formation at third or fourth grade or later would be involved in elements of the catechumenal formation process. That is, he would be apprenticed in the Christian life through his involvement in the parish ministries of word, community, worship, and service. And, ideally, he would be doing this formation with his parent(s).
His formation process, however, is distinct from the ritual process. If he is baptized Catholic, he would be subject to the diocesan rules for the celebration of confirmation. That means a priest can only confirm the child if he requests special permission from the bishop to do so.
Our Diocese of Knoxville is dropping the age of Confirmation from a junior in high school to the 5/6th grade beginning in 2019. As DRE, I am currently running a more unique prep program for the high school years this year and the middle school years 2017-18. This will put us on track for the change over. I appreciate many of the comments you made on not making the age of Confirmation the late teens to keep the kids in the church.
You posted that we should work on developing “spiritual parentlng skills”. Could you elaborate on this? I just recently gave up my responsibilities for Adult Ed to someone else and we want to work together to make a cohesive program. If you have some suggestions or resources that would be great. Thanks for all your great work.
Hi Karen. See http://www.pastoralplanning.com for resources on involving parents in their children’s faith formation.
“It also means that children who were baptized into a Christian tradition other than Catholic (or Eastern Orthodox) are confirmed at the time of their reception into full communion (see Canon 885.2).”
Another misunderstanding: I myself am a Catholic of one of the 24 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches. We are fully Catholic. For us Eastern Catholics the Sacraments of Initiation have remained together, as they were in the Western Church for centuries. (See Canon 695 CCEO*) The justifications used for postponing Confirmation in the Latin Church have sadly often become a backhanded way of discrediting the other 24 Catholic Churches which validly and licitly baptize, chrismate (confirm), and commune infants, and all those who seek baptism.
When Constantine proclaimed Christianity the state religion in the fourth century the East and the West made different decisions about how to handle the Sacraments/Mysteries of initiation for a large number of pagans seeking to become Christian. The choice in the West for the bishop to retain for himself the right of confirming caused the separation of these Sacraments/Mysteries. As your post indicates, over time the Latin Church developed teachings to explain, some would say justify, the division of these Sacraments of Initiation with the innovation of “maturity” as the explanation. Too many deacons and priests, in addition to catechists have fully embraced this modern teaching apart from the historical facts of its origin. Thank you for helping to clarify the practice.
It should be noted that in the case of a gravely ill infant who is baptized into the Catholic Church, typically in a hospital, by someone other than a priest, for both East and West a priest should come to complete the Sacraments of Initiation ASAP. In the event the child recovers and lives, he or she would be a fully initiated infant of the Catholic Church, ascribed into the Catholic Church, Latin or other, of the Catholic parent/father, according to the Canon Law of that Church.
*Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches: Canon 695
1. Chrismation with holy myron must be administered in conjunction with baptism, except in a case of true necessity, in which
case, however, it is to be seen that it is administered as soon
as possible. 2. If the celebration of chrismation with holy
myron is not done together with baptism, the minister is obliged
to notify the pastor of the place where the baptism was administered.
Thanks for your terrific comment Marylouise.
You wrote: “The bottom line for Catholic parishes is that unbaptized children of catechetical age must be confirmed when they are baptized. The same is true for baptized, non-Catholic children who are being received into full communion. They must be confirmed at their reception.”
Can a bishop permit the delay of confirmation so that neophytes can receive confirmation “with their class?”
Hi Kevin,
A bishop cannot licitly delay the immediate confirmation after baptism of an adult or child of the age of reason. That does not mean that he won’t, but it is not permitted either by canon law or liturgical law. See Canon 866, RCIA 215, and National Statutes 18.
The law does allow for a delay for “grave reason” or “serious reason.” What is considered grave or serious is not defined. Canon lawyer John Huels says that the level of gravity required for delaying confirmation immediately after baptism for an adult or child of the age of reason would have to be something like danger of death. However, that delay, if necessary, would only be for a few weeks at most and not longer than the end of the period of postbaptismal catechesis or mystagogy (i.e., no later than Pentecost Sunday). See RCIA 24.