We offer you some quick answers to recurring questions concerning confirmation of both adults and children.
Please contact your parish for more information.
These answers are taken from the Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church.
This is not a confirmation preparation program but a quick guide.
Why be confirmed?
The sacrament of confirmation strengthens the baptized and obliges them more firmly to be witnesses of Christ by word and deed and to spread and defend the faith. It imprints a character, enriches by the gift of the Holy Spirit the baptized continuing on the path of Christian initiation, and binds them more perfectly to the Church.
Who can be confirmed?
Every baptized person not yet confirmed and only such a person is capable of receiving confirmation.
At what age can one be confirmed?
It varies from one region to the next, but, generally, one will be confirmed before the age of 7 years old.
Sponsors
These can be the same as for baptism but not necessarily. Nevertheless, they must fulfill the same criteria:
1/ be designated by the one to be confirmed, by the parents or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be confirmed.