207 THE ORDINARY MINISTER OF CONFIRMATION IS THE BISHOP

YOUCAT Lesson 207

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

207  Who may confirm?

The sacrament of Confirmation is normally administered by the bishop.  For weighty reasons when necessary, the bishop can also delegate a priest to do it.  In danger of death, any priest can administer Confirmation.  [1312-1314]

Photo: ….. Bishop William Patrick O’Connor of the Superior Diocese in Wisconsin confirmed me in the summer of 1942 at age 12.  Did the bishop get it right?  I’ve never turned my back on my Catholic faith.   Bishop O’Connor went on to become the first bishop of the Diocese of Madison.

THE MINISTER OF CONFIRMATION

…….1312   The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop.(compare Lumen Gentium 26)¹³⁰

In the East, ordinarily the priest who baptizes also immediately confers Confirmation in one and the same celebration. But he does so with sacred chrism consecrated by the patriarch or the bishop, thus expressing the apostolic unity of the Church whose bonds are strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation. In the Latin Church, the same discipline applies to the Baptism of adults or to the reception into full communion with the Church of a person baptized in another Christian community that does not have valid Confirmation. (compare Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 883 § 2)¹³¹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1313   In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop.(compare  Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 882)¹³²    If the need arises, the bishop may grant the faculty of administering Confirmation to priests,(compare Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 884 § 2)¹³³  although it is fitting that he confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for this reason. Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins, and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ.  –CCC

…….1314   If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest can give him Confirmation. (compare Codex Iuris Canonici, Can. 883 § 3)¹³⁴    Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest, should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ's fullness. --CCC