When they reach an age where they are able to understand the difficulties and challenges of living out

the Christian
faith, they are invited to confirm the promises made on their behalf at baptism through confirmation.

In most Catholic churches today, Catholics are confirmed when they are about 14 years old. The sacrament of
confirmation is often held on Pentecost Sunday when Christians celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
apostles.

Catholics believe confirmation is one of seven sacraments instituted by Christ. The effect of the sacrament of
confirmation is a special outpouring of the Spirit as granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.

A bishop usually confers confirmation although a priest is sometimes allowed to administer the sacrament if a person
has already been baptised into another Christian Church and is entering into full communion with the Catholic
Church through confirmation. A priest is also allowed to confer the sacrament if a person (adult or child) is in danger
of death. (Code of Canon Law, canon 884)

As the sacrament is usually reserved to a bishop, it is common in the Catholic Church to confirm large groups of older
children and young adults together during Mass.

The bishop lays his hands on the head of each candidate. This is a sign that he is appointing them to be true witnesses
to Christ.

The Bishop prays that each person will receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: reverence, understanding, courage,
knowledge, wisdom, awe and wonder and right judgment.

He makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads with holy chrism oil. This is a sign of strength and a reminder of
their commitment to follow Christ even to the cross.

In many English-speaking countries, candidates will take the name of a saint. The saint will act as a patron and guide
to the person seeking confirmation. Candidates will usually devote time during their confirmation classes to choosing
a saint who particularly inspires them.

Catholics are usually confirmed after they have received their first Holy Communion. However, this is not the
traditional order for conferring the three sacraments of Christian initiation. When an adult is initiated into the
Catholic Church, he or she must receive baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion in that order.

In some parts of the world, Catholic dioceses are returning to the traditional order, allowing children to be confirmed
before they receive their first Holy Communion for the first time at the age of seven or eight.

In Salford diocese, which oversees Catholic churches in towns and villages in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and
Lancashire, the former bishop, Patrick Kelly, decided to reinstate the symbolic context of confirmation.

After infant baptism, children in parishes throughout the diocese would be confirmed at the age of eight at
Pentecost. They would make their first confession (sacrament of reconciliation) in advent and first Holy Communion
the following Easter.

This is theologically acceptable because a bishop can delegate his apostolic power to priests.

But such an arrangement means that the bishop confirms fewer people. In other Catholic dioceses in this country,
the bishop will normally confirm any baptised person who seeks confirmation in one of several mass ceremonies
held throughout the year.