Confirmation Certificate?

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Petermn

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I have just been accepted into the fullness of the Catholic Church.
A wonderful experience - I am full of joy and excitement ready to live the rest of my life as close to the Lord as its possible for me to do… On a totally practical note, it occurs to me that whilst I dont think I will need it, I have no official certificate or document to prove the occasion, is this normal? maybe I should ask if it could have been forgotten. I’m not too worried but if ever I have to prove my acceptance it might be useful.
Is it normal to issue a cetificate or would one arive later?

Thanks

Peter
 
I think most parishes provide one. Call your church office and ask.

Congratulations!
 
the certificates are usually given to the candidates after the ceremony, or during the mystagogia period following reception into the Church at Easter. Ask at the parish office. On any given night at least a dozen people leave their certificates in church and never pick them up.
 
Sometimes the certificates are mailed to you. But best to check with the parish office to be sure.
 
I am not real sure if you do! I don’t remember when my husband became confirmed getting one. I think it may be different for older adults then children. Because Bishop’s usually do kids, but Priests usually do adults.🤷
 
wintersnow said:
I am not real sure if you do! I don’t remember when my husband became confirmed getting one. I think it may be different for older adults then children. Because Bishop’s usually do kids, but Priests usually do adults.🤷
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not necessarily. The bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation.
the priest has the faculty to confirm those adults and children of catechetical age whom he baptizes at the Easter Vigil. He can also be granted in specific cases the faculty to confirm adults or children of catechetical age, and the faculty must be exercised for the benefit of the person(s) for whom it is granted.
 
Thank you all.
I have just come back from Mass and forgot to mention it to anyone again.It seems trivial but would be useful for heritage and possible reference in generations to come.
Yes I was Confirmed by the Priest - its kind of you to comment, I will cetainly post what the outcome is.

Peter
 
When I was confrimed as a 15 year old convert 45 years ago, all I received was a little ***“Remembrance of my Confirmation” card by Bishop **.
 
If you do receive a confirmation certificate, it’s most likely not an official certificate. I remember receiving a certificate when I was confirmed, but when I was preparing for marriage at another parish, I had to get an official one from my home parish. Apparently the one I had was not official.
 
If you ever need to prove it and don’t have a Confirmation certificate, it should be noted on your baptismal certificate. Certain Sacraments are recorded on your baptismal certficate as follows:

Can. 535 §1. Each parish is to have parochial registers, that is, those of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and others as prescribed by the conference of bishops or the diocesan bishop. The pastor is to see to it that these registers are accurately inscribed and carefully preserved.
§2. In the baptismal register are also to be noted confirmation and those things which pertain to the canonical status of the Christian faithful by reason of marriage, without prejudice to the prescript of can. 1133, of adoption, of the reception of sacred orders, of perpetual profession made in a religious institute, and of change of rite. These notations are always to be noted on a baptismal certificate.
 
pprimeau1976 said:
If you do receive a confirmation certificate, it’s most likely not an official certificate. I remember receiving a certificate when I was confirmed, but when I was preparing for marriage at another parish, I had to get an official one from my home parish. Apparently the one I had was not official.
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No certificate is official without the parish seal but if it had the seal I don’t see what the problem was. In this day of high mobility it’s not rare for Catholics to have received the sacraments of initiation in 3 different parishes. If the confirming parish fell down on the job in some way, the baptizing parish may not have a record of the confirmation – that’s the situation with many in our parish. One would expect that the Confirmation certificate from that parish would be sufficient to prove reception of that sacrament.

I’ve even noticed that in this parish the marriages of people baptized here which are celebrated here are often not entered in the baptismal register. That can be very misleading if the secretary doesn’t know the people and goes only by the baptismal register to do up a Certificate of Baptism. In many cases one would think the people are not validly married in the Catholic church but on digging deeper one finds their marriage in only the marriage register.
 
All very interesting thanks folks.
In my case I dont have any original Baptismal record, it would have been at an Angican Church many years ago as stated by my late mum.
Maybe different Parishes have different proceedures, providing I make a note of the Parish and date of Confirmation I suppose it could always be traced back.

Peter
 
puzzleannie said:
the certificates are usually given to the candidates after the ceremony, or during the mystagogia period following reception into the Church at Easter.
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At our parish, they make a point of telling the about-to-be-confirmed that they will get their certificates on Pentecost, after the mystagogia period (in an attempt to keep them coming to the sessions for a few more weeks after confirmation).
 
Erich said:
At our parish, they make a point of telling the about-to-be-confirmed that they will get their certificates on Pentecost, after the mystagogia period (in an attempt to keep them coming to the sessions for a few more weeks after confirmation).
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We do the same thing with the kids to make sure the parents bring them back – we all know that for some parents it’s all about that piece of paper.
 
Petermn said:
All very interesting thanks folks.
In my case I dont have any original Baptismal record, it would have been at an Angican Church many years ago as stated by my late mum.
Maybe different Parishes have different proceedures, providing I make a note of the Parish and date of Confirmation I suppose it could always be traced back.

Peter
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The Church where you were received becomes your “church of record” and they are responsible for tracking your sacraments. In this case they would have tracked your reception, first communion and confirmation. Assuming you are already married they would not have a record of that but, if you are single and later marry they would record that as well.

Deacon Ed
 
I have certificates from both my Baptism and Confirmation… but lack one, for my First Holy Communion.

Your parish should keep records of Confirmations, though. Our current parish has a huge book of Confirmations, each name… entered in fancy ink! 👍
 
most parishes do keep a record of first communions, but it is not required. the baptismal and confirmation and marriage record is required, it is the responsibility of the pastor, not the secretary, to see this is done properly and entries made according to law. If he delegates someone else to make the entries, he should sign the book and review the entry for completeness at that time. If it is not being done in your parish that is a grave abuse and should be reported to the bishop.
 
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