Baptized Catholic, never through organized Confirmation

[triewer]

Would a person who was baptized Catholic but never went through the Sacrament of Confirmation still be Catholic and would the person be required to go through a public display of Confirmation (i.e. RCIA)? Usually it’s 8th grade where I’m from that Confirmation occurs, but if one did not participate at that time and later accepted it on a personal basis are there further requirements?

If there’s a link explaining this please point me to it, I’ve spend the last 45 minutes coming up with nothing.

God Bless.

 

[mswood]

I think it varies from Parish to Parish. I know in my Parish adults that need confirmation (baptized catholic) are put in the RCIA sessions (though they do not participate in all the rites). Some parishes have Adult Confirmation classes.

Also my understanding is that if you are baptized catholic you are considered catholic.

 

[Seatuck]

Would a person who was baptized Catholic but never went through the Sacrament of Confirmation still be Catholic and would the person be required to go through a public display of Confirmation (i.e. RCIA)? Usually it’s 8th grade where I’m from that Confirmation occurs, but if one did not participate at that time and later accepted it on a personal basis are there further requirements?

If there’s a link explaining this please point me to it, I’ve spend the last 45 minutes coming up with nothing.

God Bless.

It depends upon the resources of the parish. You will have to make an appointment with your priest to find out. Yes , such a person is a Catholic.

 

[puzzleannie]

Would a person who was baptized Catholic but never went through the Sacrament of Confirmation still be Catholic and would the person be required to go through a public display of Confirmation (i.e. RCIA)? Usually it’s 8th grade where I’m from that Confirmation occurs, but if one did not participate at that time and later accepted it on a personal basis are there further requirements?

If there’s a link explaining this please point me to it, I’ve spend the last 45 minutes coming up with nothing.

God Bless.

any baptized Catholic who has reached the age of confirmation set by her bishop’s conference, and is prepared and worthily disposed to make a profession of faith may request Confirmation. The most direct way to do this is to go to your current pastor and ask to join a Confirmation class (NOT RCIA) for your age group. Every diocese confirms adults who for whatever reason were not confirmed as children or youth.

If you also did not have the chance to prepare for first holy communion as a child, this preparation and reception of the sacrament would happen at the same time. yes you are Catholic through your baptism, you now want to complete your Christian initiation.

 

[diggerdomer]

Would a person who was baptized Catholic but never went through the Sacrament of Confirmation still be Catholic and would the person be required to go through a public display of Confirmation (i.e. RCIA)? Usually it’s 8th grade where I’m from that Confirmation occurs, but if one did not participate at that time and later accepted it on a personal basis are there further requirements?

If there’s a link explaining this please point me to it, I’ve spend the last 45 minutes coming up with nothing.

God Bless.

Yes, still Catholic. No to RCIA. Yes to Confirmation which as with all liturgy is public. For more specific “how to” talk to your parish or diocese staff.

 

[Brendan]

RCIA is not the correct venue for this. The person is already, via their Baptism, part of the Church.

Consult with the pastor for the correct procedures.

My wife was in a similar situation. She was Baptized Catholic, and made her First Communion, but her family was not practicing Catholic.

After we were married, she came back to the Church. She was Confirmed along with the 8th graders in the parish, but no requirement for classes ( classes and ‘service hours’ are not part of the Canon Law for Confirmation anyway)

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

This is one of those areas where the requirements are very dependent on parish resources. In my parish we offer an adult confirmation program to prepare people who are already practicing Catholics for the sacrament. It lasts six weeks and then the bishop confers the sacrament.

In the next parish down the road, everyone – EVERYONE! – goes through a two-year program. Are you unbaptized? Two years. Are you baptized in another faith community? Two years. Are you a Catholic who needs to be confirmed? Two years. I guess it works for them but it makes no sense to me.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

RCIA is not the correct venue for this. The person is already, via their Baptism, part of the Church.

While this is true, due to lack of resources many, if not most, dioceses use RCIA for this.

 

[Jesus_123]

Holy Mother Church has come out with a particular Catechism which deals very well with this problem . . . and has been well received in parishes . . . Our priest uses it here in selected cases for adults . . . instead of having them attend the RCIA groups . . . It is a book put out by the **United States Conference of Catholic Bishops **called the . . . United States Catholic Catechism for Adults . . . it’s carefully constructed in a lesson by lesson format which is great for home study . . . and complies with clear instruction and encouragement from **Pope John Paul the Great **. . . and is based on the larger Catechism of the Catholic Church . . .

You might ask your priest about it . . . there are reviews on line . . . and even a set of homilies are on line on this book . . . and this type of catechizing can be done individually with the priest . . . if there are no appropriate adult classes available . . . *and the priest decides this is appropriate *. . . which decision would be made case by case . . .

*God bless . . . *

"Carefully study to present thyself
approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15
:bible1:

. . . all for Jesus+
. . . Blessed Virgin Mary+
. . . pray for this child of God+
. . . thank you Holy Mother+
. . . thank You Lord Jesus+
. . . for Your Loving Care and Provisions+​

 

[Brendan]

While this is true, due to lack of resources many, if not most, dioceses use RCIA for this.

That, of course, begs the question "{what resources are necessary.

A Catholic who is not bared by law is entitiled to recieve the Sacraments. There is no real preparation required as this is a Sacrament that is bestowed upon infants.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

That, of course, begs the question "{what resources are necessary.

A Catholic who is not bared by law is entitiled to recieve the Sacraments. There is no real preparation required as this is a Sacrament that is bestowed upon infants.

Eastern churches confirm infants. In the West someone must be over the age of reason. Canon law requires: To receive confirmation licitly outside the danger of death requires that a person who has the use of reason **be suitably instructed, **properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises. source]

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

That, of course, begs the question "{what resources are necessary.

A Catholic who is not bared by law is entitiled to recieve the Sacraments. There is no real preparation required as this is a Sacrament that is bestowed upon infants.

Here is the revelant Canon from the Code of Canon Law.

**
Can. 889 §1** Every baptised person who is not confirmed, and only such a person, is capable of receiving confirmation.

§2 Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.

It would appear that the Church disagrees with you. Section 2 of this Canon clearly states that to receive Confirmation the person must be suitably instructed and properly disposed and able to renew the baptismal promises.

The only way to be sure of this, when resources are not available is though RCIA.

Any ways, it is the bishop who decides this, not us. There is something to being obeident.

In the Latin Church no infant is to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation so your statement is wrong anyways.

 

[puzzleannie]

in this diocese the preparation prescribed for Catholic adults who are not yet confirmed (as it is for the youth) is set forth in the particular law, enacted in 2006 after a diocesan synod. cdob.org, click on synod legislation on the right side. As DREs we don’t have all that much latitude, we do what is prescribed, and some parishes offer more. We prefer to think of this whole process, classes, retreats and other components, as a gift offered to the candidate by the parish and diocese, rather than as a series of hurdles or meaningless requirements.

The Confirmation candidate makes a solemn profession of faith, and deserves the instruction necessary to do so with understanding and acceptance. I have only been “in charge” of RCIA and confirmation for 10 years or so but in my experience adult Catholics need as much or more instruction, and ask for it, than an unbaptized person, and feel cheated if they are not offered the same in depth preparation available to an RCIA candidate. The candidates with the greatest need for formal catechesis, and who seem to encounter the greatest roadblocks in their own journey, are those who have fallen away from the faith, or embraced another denomination, for some time. In such cases a preparation parallel to that of RCIA is most appropriate, and the rites actually make note of this.

everytime we have this discussion I make the same point: the “class” and the “process” are not the same thing. Several people each in different personal circumstances may be taking the same catechism class. But some are in RCIA and go further into the rites and preparation proper for them. Others are adult Catholics seeking Confirmation, and their preparation beyond the actual class time is tailored for them. In this parish, since this class begins with a 12 week basic faith formation, we also have prospective catechists, and even just adults of the parish, who want that formal class. Some of these meetings are also offered to parents and sponsors of children preparing for sacraments, who are required in this diocese to take a minimum number of hours instruction. Just because the people in the room have different backgrounds does not mean they cannot all benefit from the content of the class, resources and instruction.