Confirmation Questions

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I teach PSR. A grandma told me that her 13 year old grandson requested to be baptized 2 weeks ago. Her rather unorthodox priest baptized him and then said that since he was “of age” he might as well confirm him too. The boy has received no catechesis, has not gone to confession, nor has he received his First Holy Communion. Does a priest have the authority to arbitrarily Confirm him? The bishop will be here in a month to confirm others his age. The literature from our diocese states that a priest may confirm at the Easter vigil without prior approval from the bishop. At all other times prior approval is required. Does this priest have the authority to confirm? The grandma said that the priest did not request prior permission from the bishop. Thank you so much and God bless. Terrie
 
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Terrie:
I teach PSR. A grandma told me that her 13 year old grandson requested to be baptized 2 weeks ago. Her rather unorthodox priest baptized him and then said that since he was “of age” he might as well confirm him too. The boy has received no catechesis, has not gone to confession, nor has he received his First Holy Communion. Does a priest have the authority to arbitrarily Confirm him? The bishop will be here in a month to confirm others his age. The literature from our diocese states that a priest may confirm at the Easter vigil without prior approval from the bishop. At all other times prior approval is required. Does this priest have the authority to confirm? The grandma said that the priest did not request prior permission from the bishop. Thank you so much and God bless. Terrie
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According to the Code of Canon Law canon 882: “The ordinary minister of confirmation is the bishop; a presbyter who has this faculty by virtue of either the common law or a special concession of competent authority also confers this sacrament validly.”

This suggests to me that there may not have been a valid confirmation, so there could be a problem that needs to be fixed by the bishop.

If the 13 year old was in “danger of death” any priest can confirm him.

Canon 883 seems to give the priest who baptizes the authority to confirm: “with regard to the person in question, the presbyter who by reason of office or mandate of the diocesan bishop baptizes one who is no longer an infant …”.

A 13 year old is not an infant. He would be in the group of “children who have reached catechetical age”. Thus the procedure for his baptism and confirmation are found in the USA’s RCIA, Part II, “Christian Initiation of Children who have Reached Catechetical Age”.

So the process should be: “253. … Accordingly, as with adults, their initation is to be extended over several years, if need be, before they receive the sacraments. Also as with adults, their initiation is marked by several steps, the liturgical rites of acceptance into the order of catechumens (nos. 260-276) the optional rite of election (nos. 277-290), penitential rites or scrutiniites (nos. 291-303), and the celebration of the sacraments of initiation (nos. 304-329); corresponding to the periods of adult initiation are the periods of the children’s catechetical formation that lead up to and follow the steps of their initation.”

(From The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8146-6015-0, page 170).

If this process was not followed in this case then it calls into question that the priest had the bishop’s mandate for the baptism and confirmation.

If someone was going to write to the bishop about this then it would make sense to check the parish records of the baptism and confirmation.
 
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Terrie:
I teach PSR. A grandma told me that her 13 year old grandson requested to be baptized 2 weeks ago. Her rather unorthodox priest baptized him and then said that since he was “of age” he might as well confirm him too. The boy has received no catechesis, has not gone to confession, nor has he received his First Holy Communion. Does a priest have the authority to arbitrarily Confirm him? The bishop will be here in a month to confirm others his age. The literature from our diocese states that a priest may confirm at the Easter vigil without prior approval from the bishop. At all other times prior approval is required. Does this priest have the authority to confirm? The grandma said that the priest did not request prior permission from the bishop. Thank you so much and God bless. Terrie
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The Baptism would be valid. Canon Law requires that any adult who is Baptized, be Confirmed and receive Holy Communion at the same time. A Bishop can grant blanket permission to any priest who Baptizes an adult that they can Confirm. The Bishop assumes that the priest will not abuse this. The Confirmation is probably also valid, however was probably illicit.
 
The sad part that is not being addressed is the fact that this young man who obviously wanted to be a full member of the church was denied the catechesis he probably so desired. And I wonder if it will even be available to him in a formal manner at a later time. Sure, he can read up on things and perhaps join a bible study group, but the actual catechesis that he desperately needs was absent. This priest did this young man a grave disservice.

My own pastor insisted that I , a deacon baptize an infant of a teen mother who was in the RCIA program. She herself was not baptized. I implored the pastor to allow the mother to complete her RCIA instructions and allow the baby and the mother to be baptized together at the Easter Vigil. My pastor who is now deceased, said…no go baptize the infant right now. It didn’t feel right since their was no assurance in my mind’s eye that this young mother knew what it meant to raise the child up in the Catholic church since she herself was not. After the baby’s baptism, the young mother stopped going to RCIA, stopped coming to church…formally dropped out of the program even though we kept trying to reach her to resume her instruction. What good did we do for this family?? The baby is baptized and even the godparents who were marginal Catholics at best could not guarantee the baby will ever be raised Catholic. It’s been several years and I still think about the family from time to time and pray for them and their conversion.
 
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Terrie:
I teach PSR. A grandma told me that her 13 year old grandson requested to be baptized 2 weeks ago. Her rather unorthodox priest baptized him and then said that since he was “of age” he might as well confirm him too. The boy has received no catechesis, has not gone to confession, nor has he received his First Holy Communion. Does a priest have the authority to arbitrarily Confirm him? . Terrie
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the priest who baptizes an adult (over age 7) and receives him into the church must confirm him at the same time.

the normal time for this is the Easter Vigil, and the newly baptized also receives first communion at this Mass. A child over age 7 is considered an adult for this purpose. In this diocese the faculty to confirm the newly baptized and also baptized non-Catholics being received into the Church is granted to all priests for the Easter Vigil, I do not know about other times of the Year.

The Rites of Christian Initiation for adults prescribe the proper catechesis and spiritual preparation for these sacraments, it is a shame the priest chose to bypass this rich gift of the church and deprived the child of these benefits. Down here at least we see the opposite abuse, priests baptizing children over the age of reason yet not confirming them, making them “wait” to be confirmed at the normal age (16).

those received into the Church at Easter are prepared for their first confession during the period of mystagogy which follows.

It is very much in order to both baptize and confirm a child who is danger of death, without any extended preparation. Such a child should not be deprived of the graces of the sacraments. This child would then be prepared for first communion as usual after the medical crisis passed.
 
Thank you to all who replied. I will consult with my priest for further guidance on this issue. I would hate for this young man to find out later that he was not validly confirmed. I have spent hours with his mother and grandmother regarding their role in the catechesis process and have provided them with the materials I use. I will only have him for 7 weeks. I have offered them assistance. I think they are afraid of offending their priest as everyone loves him even though his Masses are almost all illicit - no lavabo, no penitential rite, no Lamb of God… With the priest shortage in our diocese there isn’t much anyone can do short of closing the parish. Thank you to all and God bless! Terrie
 
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stbruno:
What good did we do for this family?? The baby is baptized and even the godparents who were marginal Catholics at best could not guarantee the baby will ever be raised Catholic. It’s been several years and I still think about the family from time to time and pray for them and their conversion.
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The baby is far better off having had the sacrament of baptism than without it. Perhaps your priest realized that the mother was questionable and wanted to be sure the child was baptized before the mother left altogether.
 
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puzzleannie:
the priest who baptizes an adult (over age 7) and receives him into the church must confirm him at the same time.

the normal time for this is the Easter Vigil, and the newly baptized also receives first communion at this Mass. A child over age 7 is considered an adult for this purpose. In this diocese the faculty to confirm the newly baptized and also baptized non-Catholics being received into the Church is granted to all priests for the Easter Vigil, I do not know about other times of the Year.
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The authority is either granted or revoked, authority is generally not conditional upon any given time.

Everthing I read indicates that both the Baptism and Confirmation were both Valid and Licit.

The only thing that would impare the licity of the Confirmation is if the Bishop has mandadated an RCIA program. But generally, most bishops leave that up to the pastor’s discretion.
 
I agree that this sounds totally valid. The child was beyond the age of reason and therefore had to be confirmed. Most dioceses have a blanket empowerment of the priests to confirm anyone who has not been baptized and is at the age of reason.

As far as catechesis goes, it’s not necessary to go to class in order to be confirmed. That’s a misnomer around confirmation, its a sacrament to be freely given. In the early church we confirmed infants after all.
 
People seem to be saying the liturgical book has it wrong. As I quoted above, from “Christian Initiation of Children who have Reached Catechetical Age”.

“253. … Accordingly, as with adults, their initation is to be extended over several years, if need be, before they receive the sacraments. Also as with adults, their initiation is marked by several steps, the liturgical rites of acceptance into the order of catechumens (nos. 260-276) the optional rite of election (nos. 277-290), penitential rites or scrutiniites (nos. 291-303), and the celebration of the sacraments of initiation (nos. 304-329); corresponding to the periods of adult initiation are the periods of the children’s catechetical formation that lead up to and follow the steps of their initation.”

(From The Rites Volume One, Liturgical Press, 1990, ISBN 0-8146-6015-0, page 170).

It is possible that the priest went through this process and the grandmother does not know about it. But it sounds like he did not, so the liturgical book has not been followed. Not licit. Therefore, from the canon I quoted in the earlier post, perhaps not valid.
 
You teach “PSR,” what is “PSR”?

I hate it when people use initials.
 
I was baptized and confirmed at the same time although I am Eastern Catholic. I’ve always felt I have missed out on something by not going to any catechesis since even my catholic school taught it from more of a historical and secular view.
 
CCD is the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, established after the Reformation to improve teaching of doctrine to children and adults in parishes. That teaching was based on the Catechism produced by the council of Trent, and on the various national catechisms based upon it, such as the Baltimore Catechism in America. The Confraternity published English translations of the bible for instance which most of us older folks are familiar with, which predated the NAB.

Where Catholic schools flourished they took on that role, and CCD became the means to educate children in the faith if they did not attend Catholic schools. As more parishes lose their parochial schools, the parish has to establish a more comprehensive way to educated children in the faith, and the acronym PSR for Parish School of Religion has replaced CCD, since very few directors of religious education or catechists are formally members of the CCD any more. My grandkids think it means Public School Religion class, since where they live (Cleveland) there is still a good parochial school system.

in actual practice, and this is a subjective judgement, a parish with CCD is likely to be more conservative than a parish which calls its program PSR
 
Unless the rules have changed…or unless I am just rusty on how things are run, a Bishop must be the one who confers the Sacrament…and if a Priest is to be the one who does it, he must receive explicit permission from his local Ordinary to confer the sacrament, otherwise it is invalid.
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Terrie:
The literature from our diocese states that a priest may confirm at the Easter vigil without prior approval from the bishop. At all other times prior approval is required. Terrie
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Terrie:
I teach PSR. A grandma told me that her 13 year old grandson requested to be baptized 2 weeks ago. e
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is this in your parish, and do you have responsibility for ascertaining the status of this child? if so request a new baptismal certificate which will list all sacraments received. If not, there is really nothing you can or should do. In either case, the boy still needs catechesis and should continue with his age group throughout the school years. I would not necessarily take the family’s word for what happened. Half the parents who come in here tell me their child has received this or that sacrament, or is baptized Catholic, when the actual record tells a different story.
 
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dumspirospero:
Unless the rules have changed…or unless I am just rusty on how things are run, a Bishop must be the one who confers the Sacrament…and if a Priest is to be the one who does it, he must receive explicit permission from his local Ordinary to confer the sacrament, otherwise it is invalid.
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as Bro stated, the priest who baptizes an adult must confirm at the same time an has this faculty.
 
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wjp984:
I was baptized and confirmed at the same time although I am Eastern Catholic. I’ve always felt I have missed out on something by not going to any catechesis since even my catholic school taught it from more of a historical and secular view.
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where I come from with many Eastern Rite Catholic and Orthodox churches where the ancient order of the sacraments is preserved, and all sacraments of initiation are conferred in infancy, the usual almost universal practice is to continue catechesis throughout the school years, most often in the parochial school or at “Greek school” or weekend classes. Perhaps it is the support of the community that makes this possible and normative.

What is lost in the whole RCIA thing is the importance of mystagogy for at least a year following initiation, and continuing education in the faith. This is the fault I think of the idea that confirmation constitutes graduation from CCD. In Catholic schools that follow the western order of the sacraments, the dropout rate after confirmation is astronomical as well. What a shame parents are still negelecting their duty.
 
We just call it “Religious Ed,” I never liked (or used) CCD, but “PSR” has never been used in our area; in fact, I asked in our vicariate mtg. last night, and no one had ever heard of it (and I’ve been teaching religious ed since 1972).

Thanks for coming back to me with an answer.
 
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