Confirming baptized Catholic children at Easter Vigil

[KatholicKate]

I am wondering about confirmation of children candidates during the Easter Vigil. I know that children who are catechumens (i.e. not baptized) receive Confirmation and Holy Eucharist as well as Baptism at the Easter Vigil. I also know that children who have been baptized into other Christian churches or ecclesial communities are likewise confirmed during Easter Vigil. I am wondering about children who were baptized as Catholics but did not practice the Faith and did not receive their First Communion at the age of reason and are now in the RCIA. Should they be confirmed at the Easter Vigil? I could find nothing specific in canon law. Is this something left to the bishop? The reason I am asking is that we have been preparing these children to be confirmed and were told TODAY by the pastor that they can’t be confirmed. You can imagine the uproar this is causing just three days before the Easter Vigil.

 

[SMHW]

I am wondering about confirmation of children candidates during the Easter Vigil. I know that children who are catechumens (i.e. not baptized) receive Confirmation and Holy Eucharist as well as Baptism at the Easter Vigil. I also know that children who have been baptized into other Christian churches or ecclesial communities are likewise confirmed during Easter Vigil. I am wondering about children who were baptized as Catholics but did not practice the Faith and did not receive their First Communion at the age of reason and are now in the RCIA. Should they be confirmed at the Easter Vigil? I could find nothing specific in canon law. Is this something left to the bishop? The reason I am asking is that we have been preparing these children to be confirmed and were told TODAY by the pastor that they can’t be confirmed. You can imagine the uproar this is causing just three days before the Easter Vigil.

I believe that what happens confirmation-wise for baptized children who are older than the age of reason but younger than the usual diocesan age for confirmation is up to the bishop.

Since these children are already Catholic they are not candidates for full reception into the Catholic Church. They might better have been served by being placed into a First Communion class for older students and then have them receive their First Communion on the same weekend(s) as the other young First Communicants.

But yes, I get the uproar.

 

[TimothyH]

Confirmation, like baptism, has nothing to do with the age of reason. The early Church confirmed infants and the Eastern Catholic Churches still do.

The uproar in that particular parish is between the pastor, the parents and the bishop, but the correct order of the sacraments is Baptism first, then confirmation, and the Eucharist last.

Bishop Aquila receives Pope’s praise for reordering sacraments

“I was very surprised in what the Pope said to me, in terms of how happy he was that the sacraments of initiation have been restored to their proper order of baptism, confirmation then first Eucharist,” said Bishop Aquila, after meeting Pope Benedict on March 8.

Read More.

There is no reason why a child at any age cannot be confirmed and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit just like anyone else. Age of reason has nothing to do with confirmation.

-Tim-

 

[SMHW]

It is my opinion that TimothyH has the right idea and that it would be best to go to the “Restored Order” of confirmation prior to First Communion.

That said, the Church currently permits First Communion prior to confirmation for children. These children who who being prepared for confirmation were NOT going through the RCIA even if they were being educated in the same classes as peers who WERE going through RCIA. Such Catholic children would usually be treated like any others preparing for First Reconciliation/First Communion.

Many parishes are moving away from receiving candidates for full initiation into the Church at the Easter Vigil. Likewise for Catholics who have not been fully initiated.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Things always seem to get weird when children are involved. Pastors sometimes don’t want to treat them like others in RCIA.

Looking at the text I see:

1. The following pastoral guidelines concern adults who were baptized as infants either as Roman Catholics or as members of another Christian community but did not receive further catechetical formation nor, consequently, the sacraments of confirmation and eucharist…
2. The high point of their entire formation will normally be the Easter Vigil. At that time they will make a profession of the faith in which they were baptized, receive the sacrament of confirmation, and take part in the eucharist. If, because neither the bishop nor another authorized minister is present, confirmation cannot be given at the Easter Vigil, it is to be celebrated as soon as possible and, if this can be arranged, during the Easter season.

Good luck in trying to resolve this in the next few days!

 

[phil19034]

Some Parishes have RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation for Children) in addition to RCIA. Some RCIC programs will not confirm the child if they are younger than the age that most cradle Catholics get Confirmed.

Side story, I remember when my two younger cousins went through RCIA. They received First Communion and Confirmation (they were already Baptized) a year or two before I received my Confirmation. It was the same Parish, so I was a little jealous .

Please reassure the parents that this doesn’t mean that the child isn’t Catholic.

God Bless.

 

[felsguy]

No doubt about it, RCIA questions about reception of candidates, confirmation, or children in RCIA are always very tricky but putting all three together often requires the wisdom of Solomon, and the last I heard, he’s not taking calls.

I can tell you that the practice in my parish (Midwest US archdiocese) is to confirm these children (and adults in similar circumstances) at the Easter Vigil whether or not they have made their First Communion previously. Of course this proves nothing since a pastor’s decision is usually final, especially in these latter days of Holy Week.

I’m not suggesting that they provide a definitive answer or should be used as ammunition against your pastor,
but are few statements that I have “picked” out of the National Statutes and paraphrased here for brevity:

From #18: Children “who have reached the age of reason are considered, for purposes of initiation, to be adults” (canon 852.1)

From #25-26: The sacramental initiation of “baptized adult Catholics who have never been catechized or have not been admitted to the sacraments of confirmation and eucharist”…may be completed on the same occasion as the former catechumens/now elect…that is, at the Easter Vigil…”although this is not generally recommended” (but which from my observation seems to be done more often than not).

From # 28-29: Priests do not automatically have the faculty to confirm “a baptized Catholic who without his or her fault never put the faith into practice” but can request if from the diocesan bishop who may grant it “if he judges it necessary” (canon 884:1)

To sum up, in my opinion, the National Statutes indicate that it would be permissible to confirm these children at the Vigil but it would be necessary for the pastor to obtain the faculty from the bishop. Time might not permit this now even if he were to change his decision.

It’s been my experience that these issues do not always get resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. My advice, if I may, would be do whatever you can to put a positive spin on this for the children and their families and hopefully avoid the problem in future years.

I apologize for any redundacy in my post. I was offline researching for a while and neglected to check that others may have already provided this information.

 

[Phemie]

It may have nothing to do with their age.

The Confirmation of baptized Catholics – children or adults – belongs to the bishop. Unless he’s willing to grant the Pastor the faculty to confer that sacrament on these students, it’s not going to happen.

I know that some bishops will not grant that faculty unless there is a very good reason to do so. Since Catholics are not usually confirmed at the Vigil, I guess the bishop figures it wasn’t a good reason.

The one time I’ve known the former bishop to grant faculty to the Pastor was in the case of a student who had prepared for Confirmation but the family already had a trip to England for a family event booked and paid for before the date for Confirmation was announced. In that case the child was confirmed by the Pastor when he returned from England.

 

[pianistclare]

In our the Atlanta Archdiocese, the age for Confirmation is 15.
So, we have children in RCIA that are being baptized and making First Communion.
For those who are teenagers, Father is going ahead and Confirming them instead of making them go through another 2 years of Confirmation prep.
But he prefers that the young children STAY in formation and get Confirmed with their peers at 15.
We find (at least in our parish) that if you confirm early…you can forget about seeing them in church. They consider themselves “done”. Many families are great about educating their kids and keeping them enrolled in formation, but just as many are not.

 

[CathConvert2013]

I was received into the Church last year. I had been baptized as a baby so needed a profession of faith, confirmation, and Holy Eucharist. My children are 8 and 9 and baptized last summer at 7 and 8. They had been catechised for about 6 months prior and then we went into the RCIC class (ranges in age 8-15) for this past year. Next year they go back with their own grade peers. Our parish has a large amount of children receiving their first Eucharist. One mass for regular Sunday school including RCIC, another for the school, and another for the Montessori Sunday school. Takes place after Easter. Confirmation candidates are in 10th grade and have their own mass. I think this was done in April or March.

Last year at the Easter vigil there were several children baptized but none of them were confirmed. I think it can be done at the same time but because confirmation is so much more, they need to understand it fully and 15 is a great time. 2nd grade is a great time for first Eucharist.

I agree with the above poster. If they are confirmed early they won’t come back until they get married or have a baby.

 

[CathConvert2013]

RCIC is for young kids up to 15 at my parish.

When I went through RCIA there was an older teen who was working individually with a sponsor and got all the sacraments at the Easter vigil. This may happen to the oldest student in our RCIC but I am not sure. In addition to the English speaking community, we have a Spanish community that does things their way and a Brazilian community that does things theirs. The DRE and the Monsignor work together to make everyone happy but there are still boundaries. Children are baptized but not confirmed. Teens who were late to baptism or confirmation are confirmed along with adults in need of the sacrament. We all come together during Holy Week and celebrate an awesome Easter vigil as a family.

 

[Phemie]

Last year at the Easter vigil there were several children baptized but none of them were confirmed. I think it can be done at the same time but **because confirmation is so much more, **they need to understand it fully and 15 is a great time. 2nd grade is a great time for first Eucharist.

I agree with the above poster. If they are confirmed early they won’t come back until they get married or have a baby.

I’m sorry, but that’s a misunderstanding of Confirmation. The most important sacrament is Baptism and if they were old enough to decide to be baptized, they were old enough to be confirmed.

 

[CathConvert2013]

Thanks for pointing that out. I will have to read more about confirmation. I’m still new at this!

 

[pianistclare]

I’m sorry, but that’s a misunderstanding of Confirmation. The most important sacrament is Baptism and if they were old enough to decide to be baptized, they were old enough to be confirmed.

I get what you are saying…but it’s at the discretion of the Bishop.
And many of the Bishops in the US go with later Confirmation and dedicated instruction.
For many reasons. It’s true that the order is out of sync if you want to go with what the early church did. I don’t know when exactly the custom changed historically. Many US Bishops promote the “restored order”.
Our Archbishops have held to 15 for many years.
I myself was Confirmed in another Archdiocese out west at 12. There were 400 of us confirmed at that Mass. Talk about exhausting.

 

[SMHW]

I get what you are saying…but it’s at the discretion of the Bishop.
And many of the Bishops in the US go with later Confirmation and dedicated instruction.
For many reasons. It’s true that the order is out of sync if you want to go with what the early church did. I don’t know when exactly the custom changed historically. Many US Bishops promote the “restored order”.
Our Archbishops have held to 15 for many years.

And I think Phemie stated earlier that the bishop gets to decide.

This thread is somewhat confusing because we are discussing children who fall into three categories. For purposes of this discussion we will assume the diocese has not gone to the restored order.

1. 
   *]Unbaptized children who have reached the age of reason but are under the age for confirmation established for that diocese.
   *]Baptized non-Catholic children who have reached the age of reason but are under the age for confirmation established for that diocese.
   *]Baptized Catholic children who were never catechized and are older than the usual age for First Reconciliation/First Communion and are under the age for confirmation established for the diocese.
   
   It is my understanding that children in category 1 are to be confirmed at the same time as they are baptized.
   
   The rules regarding confirmation for children in the second category are not clear. A case could be made for or against confirmation when they make a profession of faith.
   
   While children in the third category could be confirmed at the Easter Vigil (given that the pastor has faculties to do so) I think that by virtue of existing status as baptized Catholics they should be subject to the same rules and regulations as any child who makes First Communion at the usual age. I don’t think lumping them in with children in categories 1 and 2 makes sense. In my opinion they should make First Communion at the same time as other Catholic children. (I realize they are often in the same instruction class as the children in the first two categories due to age needs.)
   
   We have (IMO) an exaggerated need to treat children the same lest someone feel left out. But I think it’s unreasonable to treat them the same. (Going to the restored order would eliminate the need to make such distinctions.)

 

[Phemie]

I get what you are saying…but it’s at the discretion of the Bishop.
And many of the Bishops in the US go with later Confirmation and dedicated instruction.
For many reasons. It’s true that the order is out of sync if you want to go with what the early church did. I don’t know when exactly the custom changed historically. Many US Bishops promote the “restored order”.
Our Archbishops have held to 15 for many years.
I myself was Confirmed in another Archdiocese out west at 12. There were 400 of us confirmed at that Mass. Talk about exhausting.

I realize that it’s at the discretion of the individual bishop.

I was confirmed at the age of either 6 or 7. I remember the Confirmation but I can’t remember if it was just a few weeks after my First Communion or the year after – having the same Sister teach you in both grades 1 & 2 will do that when you cast your mind back 54 years.

We didn’t see Confirmation pushed to the teens until the late 60s in my diocese and that coincided with the discontinuation of Solemn Communion. Solemn Communion was a practice that developed in France after Pope Pius X lowered the age of First Communion to 7. It was subsequently exported to French Canada.

While in my parish & in most parishes in our diocese, preparation for First Communion and Confirmation took place within the school and within the school year and didn’t involve any extra catechesis (as we understand separate ‘sacramental preparation’ today), preparation for Solemn Communion was done by the priest, at church, on late spring, early summer evenings. The year I should have done this I told my parents I didn’t think I was ready. The next year it had disappeared.