CONFIRMATION AND YOUTH MINISTRY
CONFIRMATION AND YOUTH MINISTRY
Increasing youth ministers are being asked to facilitate the Sacrament of Confirmation as a catechetical process in their parishes because the age of confirmation falls under the developmental period of adolescence. The confirmation of adolescents has its beginning in the experience of those charged with religious education, and faith formation of teenagers. Pastorally, coordinators of youth ministry are excellent resources for adolescents seeking confirmation during this stage of faith development.
CANONICAL POLICIES REGARDING CONFIRMATION
The Catholic Code of Canon Law (1983) mandates that “The Sacrament of Confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion [age 7] unless the conference of bishops determines another age or there is danger of death or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause urges otherwise” (Canon 891). The USCCB document Receive the Gift: The Age of Confirmation, A Resource Guide for Bishops (2004) stipulates the approved norm and policy concerning confirmation. “The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in accord with the prescriptions of Canon 891, hereby decrees that the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Latin Rite shall be conferred between the age of discretion and about sixteen years of age, within the limits determined by the diocesan bishop and with regard for the legitimate expectations given in Canon 891” (p. 3). This is the reason that some dioceses, even in the same state, may have different ages to confirm those desiring the Sacrament of Confirmation.
DIOCESAN POLICIES REGARDING CONFIRMATION
The Diocese of Austin affirms the ongoing conversion and faith formation of adolescents as an integral part of youth ministry. There are specific times in the life of a Catholic teenager that calls for greater participation in the sacramental life of the church, thus the Diocese of Austin (2006) has established the following criteria regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation.
- 1. The age for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation will be the
early years of high school [ninth and tenth grades] between 14 and 16 years
of age.
2. A minimum of two years of formal religious education in a parish or Catholic school program immediately precedes preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
3. Because the primary faith community is the local parish, preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is to take place in the local parish.
4. Sacramental for confirmation has a distinct catechesis with its own focus and elements (The Challenge of Adolescent Catechesis, 1986; n. 46). Confirmation study and preparation should take place within a period not to exceed 9-12 weeks.
5. All persons involved in the preparation process are required to study the Introduction, prayer texts, and Scripture contained in the Rite of Confirmation (1971), and to understand the theology of Christian Initiation, especially the Sacrament of Confirmation.
ADOLESCENT CONFIRMATION CATECHESIS
There might be diversity in the age of the adolescent who is celebrating confirmation from diocese-to-diocese; however, meaningful catechetical formation for confirmation is always expected. The Challenge of Adolescent Catechesis: Maturing in Faith (1986) maintains, “Confirmation catechesis needs to embody the process articulated . . . [in] the ten principles [n. 24] . . . which are a guide to the development of the preparation process for Confirmation” (n. 42). The sacramental preparation for confirmation has its own distinct and unique catechesis designed to concentrate on developmental and spiritually age-appropriate methods to empower young people to grow in understanding of their Catholic faith.
THEOLOGY OF CONFIRMATION
The theology of confirmation involves living as a Christian disciple and living a life in the Holy Spirit through commitment, maturity, and witness. The theology of adolescent confirmation is straightforward and simplistic: (1) the goal of confirmation is commitment, (2) the sign of conformation is maturity, and (3) the fruit of confirmation is witnessing. Commitment becomes the objective of adolescent confirmation because its candidates (teenagers) were baptized in infancy when their parents’ commitment to the Catholic faith made them eligible for initiation (Turner, p. 102). 1 Maturity is the outward sign and means by which the aim of commitment is achieved; Christian maturity in adolescents implies accomplishing certain levels of catechesis and comprehension of the faith that enables a faith-seeker to the Church (Turner, p. 104). Witness is the fruit which steadfast commitment and maturity bear to the Catholic faith; the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is strengthened in confirmation, empowers a believer to live and profess the Christian life and the character found in confirmation confers a power to confess the Catholic faith publicly (Turner, p. 105). Ideally, the Sacrament of Confirmation should be understood in its proper theological and liturgical context--baptism. Historically, baptism and confirmation are closely connected and are interdependent sacraments of initiation. Adolescent confirmation can be viewed as the sealing and completion of baptism, but it is ritualized and celebrated in the period of adolescence. Confirmation recognizes the irrevocable presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a young person and the words: “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit” summarizes the theology of confirmation.
1 See Paul Turner, Confirmation: The Baby in Solomon’s Court, Revised and Updated, Chicago, IL:
Hillenbrand Books, 2006.