Granting of Faculties

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A quick question for this learned community. When a parish priest is given the faculties by his bishop to perform adult confirmations on the Easter Vigil Mass (I hope I got the terminology right), how is this done? Is it informal, such as the bishop sending a general email to all the parishes granting the priests permission to do so? Or is it more formal, such as a signed letter designating a particular priest at a particular mass? I’m just curious about the procedure, or even if there is any set procedure. Thanks!
 
Mountain_Man said:
A quick question for this learned community. When a parish priest is given the faculties by his bishop to perform adult confirmations on the Easter Vigil Mass (I hope I got the terminology right), how is this done? Is it informal, such as the bishop sending a general email to all the parishes granting the priests permission to do so? Or is it more formal, such as a signed letter designating a particular priest at a particular mass? I’m just curious about the procedure, or even if there is any set procedure. Thanks!
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If my memory serves me well there was once a discussion of this same topic. From what I remember there was no standard procedure. Different dioceses give priests their faculties in different ways. It can also depend on the context. For example, are the faculties being given to a newly ordained priest or one changing his see of incardination.
 
Matthew_Holford said:
If my memory serves me well there was once a discussion of this same topic. From what I remember there was no standard procedure. Different dioceses give priests their faculties in different ways. It can also depend on the context. For example, are the faculties being given to a newly ordained priest or one changing his see of incardination.
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Indeed. Sometimes it is even impersonal, like the Bishop issuing a general decree that all priests in his diocese can peform confirmations on the Easter Vigil. Then his office may send the memo to all the parish offices, but he doesn’t need to name the priests one by one. If you are a priest in good standing with the bishop then you are covered by this.
 
Around here, I have never seen anyone other than the Pastors Confirm when the Bishop doesn’t, and I was once told they were the only ones permitted to by the Bishop.
 
Here, the parishes must notify the bishop of the candidates’ and catechumens’ names and decrees are sent individually to parishes only allowing confirmations for those people.
 
*** As per Canon 883, A priest has the faculty to confirm {without special permision of his bishop (who by virtue of his office)}, “baptizes an adult or admits a baptized adult into full communion withthe catholic church”, and also anyone who is in danger of death. Unfortunatly not many priests know that they can and should confirm all catholics, not yet confirmed, that are in danger of death - regardless of their age.***
Canon 884, alows for the bishop to give faculites to any priest, in his diocease, if necessary.
 
Mountain_Man said:
A quick question for this learned community. When a parish priest is given the faculties by his bishop to perform adult confirmations on the Easter Vigil Mass (I hope I got the terminology right), how is this done? Is it informal, such as the bishop sending a general email to all the parishes granting the priests permission to do so? Or is it more formal, such as a signed letter designating a particular priest at a particular mass? I’m just curious about the procedure, or even if there is any set procedure. Thanks!
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The Latin Catholic priest can validly administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to a previously baptized Catholic (1) in danger of death at any age, and (2) in his parish, to the following people aged seven or more years:
  • that had apostatized (non-Catholic) from the faith publicly and formally
  • that through no personal fault, was instructed in or adhered to a non-Catholic religion
All else is referred to the bishop. I have seen letters (for example: Boston, Atlanta) granting the faculty to all pastors in the diocese.

CIC Can. 883 The following possess the faculty of administering confirmation by the law itself:
1/ within the boundaries of their jurisdiction, those who are equivalent in law to a diocesan bishop;
2/ as regards the person in question, the presbyter who by virtue of office or mandate of the diocesan bishop baptizes one who is no longer an infant or admits one already baptized into the full communion of the Catholic Church;
3/ as regards those who are in danger of death, the pastor or indeed any presbyter.
 
We have a form that the priest who is performing the Confirmation has to fill out and we have to submit the names of those candidates for Confirmation and the reason why they are receiving it at the Easter Vigil. Our diocese discourages Confirmation for previously baptized Catholics at the Easter Vigil preferring Pentecost when the bishop has granted the faculty to confirm to all our diocesan priests.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Indeed. Sometimes it is even impersonal, like the Bishop issuing a general decree that all priests in his diocese can peform confirmations on the Easter Vigil. Then his office may send the memo to all the parish offices, but he doesn’t need to name the priests one by one. If you are a priest in good standing with the bishop then you are covered by this.
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True. In US priests are often given a document that sets out the faculties the bishop grants. As this is given to all priests it is generic and does not give specific faculties to a named priest. Some of the faculties may be restricted to the parish priest, or, as they’re known in US, pastors. The document is often called the pagella of faculties. I refer to the US particularly because whenever I’ve done a search for priestly faculties it’s only US dioceses from which I get any hits. I’ve have attempted to restrict a search to the UK but that never returns any results. I haven’t tried restricting the search to any other country. I assume that dioceses in other countries may issue similar documents but don’t make them publicly available on their web sites.
 
Mountain_Man said:
A quick question for this learned community. When a parish priest is given the faculties by his bishop to perform adult confirmations on the Easter Vigil Mass (I hope I got the terminology right), how is this done? Is it informal, such as the bishop sending a general email to all the parishes granting the priests permission to do so? Or is it more formal, such as a signed letter designating a particular priest at a particular mass? I’m just curious about the procedure, or even if there is any set procedure. Thanks!
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Not sure, but it might be in their general faculties note granting indefinite permission to confirm only at the easter vigil.
 
This link will take you to the pagella of faculties for the diocese of San Diego. I’ve linked their’s because when I run a search the priestly faculties for San Diego clergy are always the first result from a search in Google. I have, in the past, read others. There are sometimes minor variations but most of them are similar. If anyone is interested just type “pagella faculties” into a search engine. The faculties regarding confirmation are found in Nos 2 & 3 in the linked document.
 
I am RCIA Co-ordinator in my Parish in London, England.

Prior to the Rite of Election each year my Parish Priest and I sit down with all the Candidates and Catechumens and ask if they want to go forward at Easter. if they reply that they do we have a form sent by the Bishop which requires all their personal details, and details of their baptism (if they have been baptised). They have to sign requesting the sacraments, then the Parish Priest and I have to sign saying that they have been prepared for the sacraments and that there are no impediments. The form is sent to the Bishop and then returned with the Bishop’s signature giving the Parish Priest permission to confirm.
 
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