How do I know if I was confirmed?

[lindamar]

Several years ago I came home to the Catholic Church. I had my previous marriage annulled and went through the RCIA and was accepted fully into the faith on March 25, 1987, at the Easter Vigil Mass. As a teenager I was baptized in a Baptist church, which the Catholic Church recognized, so I was not baptized, but I did receive holy Communion. The parish’s records show that I was baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass (which I was not) and does not show I was confirmed.

I have called the church on several occassions and still have no answers to my questions. The only thing they tell me is that they cannot change any church records. For my own peace of mind, when an adult goes through RCIA and enters into the faith, are they confirmed then, or do they have to go through further instruction before they are confirmed? Sorry for the lengthy question, but I was trying to give some background.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Usually, when an adult Christian whose baptism has been accepted by the Church enters the Church on Easter Vigil, he is confirmed. If the priest or the bishop – usually the priest for adult Easter Vigil Masses, but it could have been the bishop – anointed your forehead with oil and prayed the prayers of confirmation for you, then you were confirmed. If all that happened was that you made a profession of faith and were given Communion, then you were not confirmed and would have to be prepared specifically for confirmation.

If you were indeed confirmed, it is possible that the parish misrecorded your confirmation as a baptism. I recommend calling the diocese in which the parish resides and asking for information on how to have the records amended appropriately if they are in error. If you cannot get help from the diocese, I recommend contacting the St. Joseph Foundation, an apostolate that helps Catholics to assert their rights within the Church.