Saying that Confirmation has practically become a "Sacrament of Farewell", Bunbury Bishop Gerard Holohan has called for a radical reconsideration of the age and practice relating to its conferral. Addressing a meeting with the school principals of the Bunbury Diocese, Bishop Holohan said that "in every practical sense, Confirmation had become a 'Sacrament of Farewell'", a diocesan media statement says.
The Bishop contrasted the gap between the practice of today and the pastoral practice of the early Church.
"Most Confirmation candidates today are the children of parents who have little if anything to do with the Christian community," the diocesan statement said.
"The early Church conferred the Sacraments of Initiation on the children within families in which they were receiving, and would continue to receive, initiatory catechesis.
"The current practice of confirming children from families incapable of giving the necessary catechesis would not have been allowed in the early Church. Sacraments were seen as sacraments of faith, and would not have been conferred outside a faith context."
Bishop Holohan noted that today, instead of catechesis, "we make do with religious education".
"Initiatory catechesis is an 'apprenticeship in the faith', whereas religious education is an educational discipline offering an 'understanding that leads towards faith'.
Confusing the two, he said, is like confusing an electrical apprenticeship with the TAFE course required to qualify as an electrician.
Bishop Holohan also cited Pope Benedict's call for a review of pastoral approach to Confirmation in the light of whether it led into the 'community' where people 'received formation' needed to appreciate the Eucharist as 'the climax and summit' of the Christian life. He suggested that the current approach did the reverse.
Bishop Holohan suggested that among future possibilities was the one of "not completing Christian initiation until young people received adequate initiatory catechesis."
He said the he wondered about the wisdom of reversing the order of First Holy Communion and Confirmation in the current pastoral situation. "There seems little sense in the Eucharist replacing Confirmation as the 'Sacrament of Farewell'", he concluded.
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(Source: CTHN)