Should I get confirmed in the Church of England?

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I’m an English Christian who was baptised in the Church of England last year, but I’m currently very seriously considering becoming Catholic. I have not been confirmed in the Church of England and in November the bishop of our diocese is coming to our area to do the confirmation service. Would it be right for me to get confirmed in the Church of England when I’m increasingly believing that Anglicanism is false and Roman Catholicism true?

My vicar says that Anglican confirmation is about confirming one’s faith in Christ and being part of a community, not necessarily about accepting Anglican doctrine, and as far as I know in the liturgy in the service the candidate doesn’t have to say anything that contradicts with Catholic teaching. On the other hand, being confirmed involves the laying on of hands by the bishop so arguably you are accepting the authority of an Anglican bishop, who is just a layman from a Catholic perspective. Again, I’m not sure that Anglican confirmation necessarily means confirming that you’re Anglican and not Catholic, but you could argue that it is. If I decide to become a Roman Catholic, which seems likely, I will of course get confirmed in the Catholic Church. But at this stage, do you think it would be wrong for me to get confirmed in the Anglican Church? I’d appreciate swift replies because I actually should have decided this several days ago, as I’m sometimes sinfully indecisive. Thanks.
 
Sorry but I can only comment from a Catholic perspective. Confirmation for us Catholics is an important sacrament (this is a link to a brief overview: dummies.com/how-to/content/the-catholic-sacrament-of-confirmation.html), however, my understanding (and I stand ready to be corrected) is that it is not a sacrament for Anglicans but is a re-affirming of baptism.

Coming from a Catholic perspective, I would ask “Is is honest to receive confirmation at a time of doubt?” What is the urgency? Are you ready? Are you sure that, if you converted, the Catholic church would not recognise your Anglican confirmation, given that it does recognise baptism etc? Are you considering confirmation for the right reasons?

If you do not receive confirmation but stay Anglican, can’t you be confirmed next year or the year after?

The above is based very much on the fact that for Catholics it is a Sacrament (not to be taken lightly, dismissively or for the wrong reasons). Having said that, I accept that there may be Catholics who have been confirmed for the wrong reasons, but that is between them and God.

To any Anglicans reading this, I apologise if I have it wrong from your perspective as I do not want to be disrespectful.
 
Anglican Confirmations are not recognised by the Catholic church. I had to be confirmed when I was received into the Catholic church, even though I had been through Anglican ‘confirmation’.
 
Am I correct in thinking you cannot receive communion in the C of E unless you have been confirmed? For me the issue would be if you are not in communion with them, why would you wish to participate?
 
You can receive communion in the C of E if you have not been confirmed but have been baptised as a believer (i.e. me). However, I have not taken communion for quite a while because I know Catholics are not supposed to take communion in non-Catholic churches and my conscience is telling me pretty strongly that I shouldn’t. Sorry but how do you mean by your question?
 
Hi Jon,

Thanks for the clarification…I once witnessed a Vicar ask someone about to receive communion if were confirmed, “no” was the reply, then the vicar gave a blessing only. :confused:

Re my question, perhaps I’m bringing a Catholic perspective to this…Why would you wish to to partake in a rite (if that is the correct term) of a church you don’t fully believe in?
 
Hi Jon,

Thanks for the clarification…I once witnessed a Vicar ask someone about to receive communion if were confirmed, “no” was the reply, then the vicar gave a blessing only. :confused:

Re my question, perhaps I’m bringing a Catholic perspective to this…Why would you wish to to partake in a rite (if that is the correct term) of a church you don’t fully believe in?
 
Jon190 said:
I’m an English Christian who was baptised in the Church of England last year, but I’m currently very seriously considering becoming Catholic. I have not been confirmed in the Church of England and in November the bishop of our diocese is coming to our area to do the confirmation service. Would it be right for me to get confirmed in the Church of England when I’m increasingly believing that Anglicanism is false and Roman Catholicism true?

My vicar says that Anglican confirmation is about confirming one’s faith in Christ and being part of a community, not necessarily about accepting Anglican doctrine, and as far as I know in the liturgy in the service the candidate doesn’t have to say anything that contradicts with Catholic teaching. On the other hand, being confirmed involves the laying on of hands by the bishop so arguably you are accepting the authority of an Anglican bishop, who is just a layman from a Catholic perspective. Again, I’m not sure that Anglican confirmation necessarily means confirming that you’re Anglican and not Catholic, but you could argue that it is. If I decide to become a Roman Catholic, which seems likely, I will of course get confirmed in the Catholic Church. But at this stage, do you think it would be wrong for me to get confirmed in the Anglican Church? I’d appreciate swift replies because I actually should have decided this several days ago, as I’m sometimes sinfully indecisive. Thanks.
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Three things to consider. First, even if the Anglican Confirmation bestows no special graces ( from the Catholic perspective ), it does signify a personal belief in the Anglican Faith, so it would be something of a personal commitment to that Faith. Secondly, Anglican Communion services are not recognized as valid by the Catholic Church ( Christ is not really present because the majority of Anglican priests and Bishops do not have Apostolic Succession and therefore are not really priests. They cannot confect the sacrament no matter how much they may desire to do so.). So you loose nothing by not receiveing in the Anglican Church. Thirdly, the Bishop will be around again next year or the year after, so you can postpone your decision.

Finally, since you are seriously thinking of becoming a Catholic, perhaps you should start attending a Catholic Church. But you may not be able to start RICA immediately. You may have to wait until next year, you will have to speak to a local pastor about that.

Hope that helps.

Linus2nd
 
Jon190 said:
You can receive communion in the C of E if you have not been confirmed but have been baptised as a believer (i.e. me). However, I have not taken communion for quite a while because I know Catholics are not supposed to take communion in non-Catholic churches and my conscience is telling me pretty strongly that I shouldn’t. Sorry but how do you mean by your question?
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If you are feeling this way about communion then I would definitely hold off any sort of confirmation until your discernment is done.

Come on over the waters fine 😉
 
I also think you should hold off on getting confirmed until you are convinced what Church is the true one.

As a small side note, regarding the CofE bishop being “just a layman”, I wouldn’t put it that way. What you mean of course is that Anglican orders are invalid, which is true (I think a case could be made that initially ordination to the diaconate remained valid in the CofE, but once those validly ordained deacons became “bishops” even diaconal ordinations would have also become invalid. In any case that’s all academic now, centuries later). Unless the bishop is a former Catholic priest or something like that, he has not received the Sacrament of Holy Orders. For that reason he is also unable to validly confer the sacrament of Confirmation, by the way. But the Catholic Church used to have, and indeed still does have in smaller numbers, people in minor orders who also have not received Holy Orders but are still members of the clergy. Also religious, like nuns and non-ordained monks, are not considered laypeople (or clergy), despite the fact that in the case of male religious they are sometimes called “lay brothers.” That is just our conventional terminology being imprecise. My point is that not having valid Holy Orders is not the same thing as being a layperson, and I think out of respect if nothing else we would not call the ministers of other communities “laypeople.”
 
I am also an Anglican seriously considering Rome and have started attending the Catholic Church.

From the Anglican point of view, no, you should not receive confirmation because you are having serious doubts about the church. If you can’t receive communion there, then you definitely shouldn’t receive confirmation.

From a Catholic point of view, you also should not receive confirmation there. If you truly believe what the Catholic Church teaches about the sacrament of Confirmation, then you should know that it’s not the same thing as what the Anglican Church is offering. Some people here have pointed out that it is not valid because of the lack of apostolic succession. This is what the Catholic Church teaches, but there is more to it than that. The prayer books and the Anglican Communion as a whole are not even sure what confirmation IS. There is no mention of the “seal of the spirit” in the Anglican confirmation rite. Usually no chrism is used. There is only a prayer for a strengthening of the Spirit or an increase of faith – this is part of what confirmation is, but it’s not all of it. Even if a validly consecrated bishop were to “confirm” you using the rite from the Book of Common Prayer, it would STILL not be a valid confirmation in the eyes of the Catholic Church because the intent is not the same as that of the Catholic Church. It is a different rite altogether.

In the US 1979 BCP there are other changes as well. In the Catholic Church Confirmation is when a person is sealed with the Holy Spirit. But in the 1979 BCP baptismal rite there is a blessing right after baptism (with or without oil) saying you are sealed with the Spirit in baptism. Confirmation follows afterward and is merely a strengthening. This is very clearly a different understanding of confirmation than what the Catholic Church teaches and again would not be valid even if the bishop performing the rite was validly consecrated.
 
=Jon190;11349810]I’m an English Christian who was baptised in the Church of England last year, but I’m currently very seriously considering becoming Catholic. I have not been confirmed in the Church of England and in November the bishop of our diocese is coming to our area to do the confirmation service. Would it be right for me to get confirmed in the Church of England when I’m increasingly believing that Anglicanism is false and Roman Catholicism true?
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My vicar says that Anglican confirmation is about confirming one’s faith in Christ and being part of a community, not necessarily about accepting Anglican doctrine, and as far as I know in the liturgy in the service the candidate doesn’t have to say anything that contradicts with Catholic teaching. On the other hand, being confirmed involves the laying on of hands by the bishop so arguably you are accepting the authority of an Anglican bishop, who is just a layman from a Catholic perspective. Again, I’m not sure that Anglican confirmation necessarily means confirming that you’re Anglican and not Catholic, but you could argue that it is. If I decide to become a Roman Catholic, which seems likely, I will of course get confirmed in the Catholic Church. But at this stage, do you think it would be wrong for me to get confirmed in the Anglican Church? I’d appreciate swift replies because I actually should have decided this several days ago, as I’m sometimes sinfully indecisive. Thanks.
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Confirmation means “TO CONFIRM & ASSENT” to a set of faith-beliefs.

If dear friend you are seriously considering Catholicism it would be disingenuous and IMO, wrong to be confirmed in ANY faith one holds doubts about. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.

In the mean time I’d be delighted to discuss any Catholic belief issues with you.👍

God Bless you,
Patrick
 
I would wait until you work out what your beliefs are, whether you want to be Catholic or Anglican before you move on with this English confirmation Hope that helps. 🙂
 
Linusthe2nd said:
Three things to consider. First, even if the Anglican Confirmation bestows no special graces ( from the Catholic perspective ), it does signify a personal belief in the Anglican Faith, so it would be something of a personal commitment to that Faith. Secondly, Anglican Communion services are not recognized as valid by the Catholic Church ( Christ is not really present because the majority of Anglican priests and Bishops do not have Apostolic Succession and therefore are not really priests. They cannot confect the sacrament no matter how much they may desire to do so.). So you loose nothing by not receiveing in the Anglican Church. Thirdly, the Bishop will be around again next year or the year after, so you can postpone your decision.

Finally, since you are seriously thinking of becoming a Catholic, perhaps you should start attending a Catholic Church. But you may not be able to start RICA immediately. You may have to wait until next year, you will have to speak to a local pastor about that.

Hope that helps.

Linus2nd
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👍 I was also Anglican and my Anglican confirmation wasn’t valid at all.
 
Confirmation means “TO CONFIRM & ASSENT” to a set of faith-beliefs.
Click to expand...
If dear friend you are seriously considering Catholicism it would be disingenuous and IMO, wrong to be confirmed in ANY faith one holds doubts about. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.
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In the mean time I’d be delighted to discuss any Catholic belief issues with you.
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God Bless you,
Patrick
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Thank you.
 
Another former Anglican here who feels as the others do. You did the right thing. Please come to Mass regularly and speak to a priest soon. God bless you; you are in our prayers.
 
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