Confirmation by a priest

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semper_catholicus

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Hello all.

I am about to be confirmed at my parish in a couple of days. Very excited; I have been waiting several years for this. One thing that kind of bothers me though is that it will be the parish priest administering confirmation, not the local bishop. I know it’s perfectly valid and licit for the bishop to delegate this responsibility to a priest when he needs to, but I would really prefer it if the bishop administered it. Was anyone else here confirmed by their parish priest rather than the bishop? I don’t mean like if you’re a convert and were received into the Church on the Easter Vigil, because the priest always does confirmation then, but I mean did you go through regular religious ed confirmation prep, and then get confirmed by the priest and not the bishop, even though the bishop could theoretically have done it?
 
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I think that it’s a bit of hubris to state “the bishop could have done it” as if the Bishop isn’t minding his manners. Even if he’s taking off Friday night to go to a poker game with his buddies, he has hundreds of thousands–maybe millions–under his care. He can take a night off.

I was confirmed by the Bishop, but not at my parish. It was unfortunate because it would have been great to be confirmed at my parish. A bunch of parents got their knickers in a bunch and rather than be confirmed with the few kids I knew, we were shuffled into a large, unfamiliar church with other groups of confirmandi who felt equally disoriented as we knew nothing of the church or it’s people.

You are confirmed into the Body of Christ. I feel like it’s more important to be Confirmed with the love and support of that Body and be able to have the Knights you know, parishioners, etc, than a 4 person limit and be confirmed by the Bishop. It’s the letter of the law, but not the spirit.
 
I was confirmed in 8th grade (Catholic school). The bishop was unavailable, so a priest (not of the parish) administered the sacrament.

This weekend, my parish is having its confirmation mass. Our bishop is unavailable, so our pastor will be administering it.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
I think that it’s a bit of hubris to state “the bishop could have done it” as if the Bishop isn’t minding his manners. Even if he’s taking off Friday night to go to a poker game with his buddies, he has hundreds of thousands–maybe millions–under his care. He can take a night off.
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Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

I didn’t mean it in a “as if the Bishop isn’t minding his manners” kind of way. I just couldn’t think of a better way to put it in the moment. I’ll change it now.
 
semper_catholicus said:
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Xanthippe_Voorhees:
I think that it’s a bit of hubris to state “the bishop could have done it” as if the Bishop isn’t minding his manners. Even if he’s taking off Friday night to go to a poker game with his buddies, he has hundreds of thousands–maybe millions–under his care. He can take a night off.
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Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

I didn’t mean it in a “as if the Bishop isn’t minding his manners” kind of way. I just couldn’t think of a better way to put it in the moment. I’ll change it now.
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I think when it comes down to it the parish, priest and religious ed are often faced with a choice. The Bishop isn’t availale. Do they rent a bus, have limited seating, go up to a parish where the Bishop is (like mine did) or do they ask permission to celebrate Confirmation at their parish with support of the Body of Christ?

I think this boils down to do you see sacraments as a “spectator sport” or as a vital lifeline of Catholic living? If it’s a sport, go get the Bishop, get those 3-4 important people, have all the pomp that entails. If you are committing to a life as a Catholic and are promising to be an adult member of the Church, than a priest with permission is wholly appropriate. It would be great if the Bishop could come, but more often than not, it’s not a possibility.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
I think this boils down to do you see sacraments as a “spectator sport” or as a vital lifeline of Catholic living? If it’s a sport, go get the Bishop, get those 3-4 important people,
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I wouldn’t mind if it was less extravagant either, but I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable to want the bishop to confirm you. After all, it’s his job and he is the ordinary minister of the sacrament.
 
Here a bishop came and he gave our PP the right to help him confirm. I got slapped by the bishop… 😂 it was in 6th grade
 
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Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
I think this boils down to do you see sacraments as a “spectator sport” or as a vital lifeline of Catholic living? If it’s a sport, go get the Bishop, get those 3-4 important people, have all the pomp that entails. If you are committing to a life as a Catholic and are promising to be an adult member of the Church, than a priest with permission is wholly appropriate. It would be great if the Bishop could come, but more often than not, it’s not a possibility.
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The bishop is a vital lifeline of Catholic living, and the only contact many have with the bishop is at confirmation. There is nothing else that conveys the sense of being a part of something larger than your parish, something as large as the world.

A priest with permission is acceptable, but only if the other sign of the bishop’s authority, the consecrated chrism, is emphasized. With chrism, you are configured with Christ, who gets his name from chrism. You are part of the Body of Christ that fills the world; you are the aroma of Christ, the smell of life for those on the road to life.
 
Its traditional. If I’m not mistaken its also done in EF of the mass.
 
It was expected but not expected to be a hard slap the bishop was a bit old so he had a shaky hand he said sorry so we’re good 😂
 
I wonder if I got slapped. 🤔 I should ask my parents.

I’m (probably) old enough for it to have been the usual practice. Forgive me for not remembering - I was only two months old at the time. 👶
 
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Are you asking me? (Edit: yes, I now see that you are.)

I was born in the Philippines. At the time, everyone was confirmed shortly after birth. I have no idea why, or if they still do this there. Everyone in my extended family, on both sides, who is older than I am was confirmed as an infant. We are all Latin Rite Catholics.
 
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Yup… how were you two months old and got confirmed… Sorry for my ignorance
 
Yes. The little “slap” (which isn’t even really a slap, more like a tap) reminds the candidate that now that they are soldier for Christ, they should be ready and willing to suffer for Christ.
 
In Eastern Churches it is done at Baptism. Maybe in some Latin Rite countries it is also done at the time.
 
That’s possible. I’ve only heard of Latin Rite infant Confirmation in the Philippines, but it could exist or have recently existed elsewhere. The difference with the Eastern churches is that I wasn’t confirmed at Baptism, but two months afterward.

In the context of the current topic, the Bishop confirmed me in the local parish. For years I thought the parish priest had confirmed me, but I found out when I got married that my sacramental record says otherwise.
 
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