Question Three: On the Minister of Confirmation

S. Th. III, q. 72, a. 11.

186. The ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop alone (can. 782, § 1), because by force of his order and office he can validly administer the sacrament without special commission of the Supreme Pontiff. - This is of faith from the Council of Trent, sess. 7, on Confirmation, can. 3, and sess. 23, can. 7, confirming the doctrine and decisions of Innocent I, Gelasius, Innocent III, and the Council of Florence. It is hinted in the Scriptures, Acts VIII, 12-17, and is clear from most ancient tradition and practice, the fittingness of which St. Thomas shows, a. 11:

"In any work the final consummation is reserved to the supreme art or power, just as the preparation of the matter pertains to lower craftsmen, but the superior gives the form...; whence a letter which is written by a notary is signed by the lord. But the faithful of Christ are in a certain way a divine work, according to that saying, I Cor. III, 9: You are the building of God; they are also, as it were, a certain epistle written by the Spirit of God, as is said in II Cor. III, 3. But this sacrament of Confirmation is, as it were, the final consummation of the sacrament of Baptism, namely in this way, that through Baptism man is built into a spiritual house and is written, as it were, as a certain spiritual epistle; but through the sacrament of Confirmation, as a house already built is dedicated into a temple of the Holy Spirit, and as an epistle already written is signed with the sign of the cross. And therefore the conferral of this sacrament is reserved to bishops, who hold supreme power in the Church, just as also in the primitive Church through the imposition of hands of the apostles, whose places bishops hold, the fullness of the Holy Spirit was given."

But in order that a bishop may confirm licitly, ordinary jurisdiction is required, or permission at least reasonably presumed from him who has such jurisdiction. Hence can. 783:

§ 1. "A bishop in his diocese legitimately administers this sacrament even to outsiders, unless the express prohibition of their own Ordinary stands in the way." This holds also for exempt places according to can. 792.

§ 2. "In another diocese he needs the permission of the Ordinary of the place, at least reasonably presumed, unless it is a matter of his own subjects, to whom he confers Confirmation privately and without staff and miter."

The obligation is of itself grave, and therefore a bishop who would dare to transgress these prescriptions in some point would sin gravely.

187. The extraordinary minister of Confirmation is a presbyter to whom the faculty has been granted either by common law or by a peculiar or general indult of the Apostolic See (can. 782, § 2). - This is certain from the Council of Florence and from the perpetual use of the Church.

But whether a bishop of himself could confer this faculty upon a presbyter is doubtful, because such delegation of a simple priest is not referred to the power of order but to the power of jurisdiction. Hence if formerly this was done, it can be said to have been done with the tacit consent of the Apostolic See, whereas now it is provided by canonical law that it not be done: for at present that right is reserved to the Supreme Pontiff, nor is it validly exercised without his permission granted by law or indult.

Concerning this faculty committed to priests, the following dispositions are to be noted:

1. By the law itself, besides Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, to whom it belongs everywhere on earth, the Abbot or Prelate nullius, the Vicar and Prefect Apostolic enjoy this faculty; yet they cannot validly use it except within the boundaries of their territory and only while their office lasts (can. 782, § 3).

2. According to the common law, a presbyter of the Latin rite to whom this faculty belongs by force of indult (and not from common law) validly confers Confirmation on the faithful of his own rite alone, unless something else has been expressly provided in the indult (can. 782, § 4). - By decree of May 1, 1948, it was granted that whenever presbyters of the Latin rite, by force of a legitimate indult, can validly and licitly administer the sacrament of Confirmation to the faithful of their own rite, they may be able to confer the same - provided it is certain that it was not already conferred immediately after Baptism, as is the custom - also upon the faithful of Eastern rites whose spiritual care remains committed to them. These things hold also whenever the sacrament can be conferred according to the norm of the decree "On administering Confirmation to those who, from grave illness, are constituted in danger of death" (cf. below n. 5).

3. It is forbidden for presbyters of an Eastern rite, who enjoy the faculty or privilege of conferring Confirmation together with Baptism on infants of their own rite, to administer the same to infants of the Latin rite (can. 782, § 5).

They enjoy this faculty generally by force of immemorial custom, with certain exceptions such as the Maronites and Italo-Greeks; whence the administration of Confirmation to a Latin infant, although illicit, nevertheless seems rather to be valid, although some doubt concerning this.

4. It is also lawful for a presbyter, if he is furnished with an apostolic local (not merely personal) privilege, to confirm even outsiders in the territory designated for him, unless their own Ordinary has expressly forbidden it (can. 784).

5. Through the decree Spiritus Sancti Munera of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, by general indult there is granted to all pastors enjoying their own territory, quasi-pastors, perpetual vicars, vicar administrators, and priests to whom exclusively and stably there has been committed, in a certain territory and with a determinate church, the full care of souls with all the rights and duties of pastors, the faculty that, by themselves, they administer the sacrament of Confirmation, in their own territory, to those persons who dwell there (not excepting pilgrims nor those staying in places withdrawn from parochial jurisdiction) and who from grave illness are constituted in true danger of death, whether they are infants or adults. - Yet it is required that the diocesan Bishop cannot be had or is impeded, nor is another Catholic Bishop present, even only titular, who can take his place without grave inconvenience. - If the dying are still capable of this, they ought, as far as possible, to be prepared for the fruitful reception of this sacrament; and, if perhaps they recover, they are to be more fully instructed.

Moreover, let the norms be observed which the same decree prescribes: "Confirmation is to be conferred with the discipline introduced by the C.I.C. and adapted to the matter being observed, and also with the rite used from the Roman Ritual excerpted, which are transcribed fully and completely below: moreover it is to be conferred gratis under any title."

"According to the norm of canon 798, the extraordinary minister is to make the notation of the sacrament conferred in the parochial book of those confirmed, inscribing there his own name and the names of the confirmed person (and if he is not his subject, also of that one's diocese and parish), of the parents and sponsor, the day and place, finally adding the words: 'Confirmation was conferred from Apostolic indult, with danger of death pressing, on account of the grave illness of the confirmed person.' The notation is to be made also in the book of the baptized according to the norm of can. 470, § 2.

If the confirmed person is of another parish, as soon as possible the minister himself should inform the proper pastor of the confirmed person concerning the sacrament conferred by an authentic document, which contains all the notices mentioned above."

"Extraordinary ministers are moreover bound, each time, immediately to send to their own diocesan Ordinary an authentic notice of the Confirmation conferred by them, with all adjunct circumstances concurring in the case added."¹

¹ The decree exists in A.A.S., t. 38 (1946), pp. 349-358. - In almost all periodicals treating theological or canonical matters, commentaries on this decree have appeared.

188. The obligation of administering Confirmation. - The Bishop is bound to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to subjects duly and reasonably seeking it, especially at the time of the visitation of the diocese (can. 785, § 1), which must be completed every five years (can. 343, § 1); but not with danger of death, because it is not a sacrament of necessity, unless perhaps in a case in which scandal would arise from non-administration. The presbyter endowed with apostolic privilege is held by the same obligation toward those in whose favor the faculty has been granted (can. 785, § 2).

The obligation by its nature is grave, unless a grave reason excuses. Whence an Ordinary impeded by a legitimate cause or lacking the power of confirming ought, insofar as it can be done, to provide at least within each five-year period that this sacrament be administered to his subjects (§ 3).

But if he has gravely neglected to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to his subjects either by himself or through another, the Metropolitan must denounce him to the Holy See (§ 4 and can. 274, 4°).

A presbyter who has neither from law nor from concession of the Roman Pontiff the faculty, if he has dared to administer the sacrament of Confirmation, is to be suspended; but if he has presumed to overstep the limits of the faculty given, he is deprived by that very fact of the same faculty (can. 2365).

By decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, of December 18, 1947, there is moreover granted to Ordinaries of places dependent on the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith the power of giving "to all priests subject to them and exercising the care of souls, the faculty of validly administering sacred Confirmation to the faithful, whether adults or infants, existing within the boundaries of the missionary circumscription and constituted in danger of death; and also licitly in the very place of residence of the Bishop, with any Bishop absent or legitimately impeded; and with the formula established by the Roman Ritual observed" (A.A.S., t. 40 (1948), p. 41).

189. Observation. - Theologians do not agree in declaring the manner by which a simple priest obtains the power of administering Confirmation. It seems better to say that for conferring this sacrament there is required an excellent dignity, which belongs fully to bishops from their own character, but to priests not absolutely and fully, but only radically and inchoatively; whence they need an extrinsic increase of dignity by which their character is ordered to a new effect, namely, the conferral of Confirmation. But this supplement of dignity is conferred on them by a special deputation of the Pontiff, so that their inchoate power, with delegation acceding, is extended and completed. For the Pontiff, who has the fullness of power in the Church, is able to commit the lowest functions of the superior episcopal office which regard the mystical body of Christ, such as is the power of confirming, to those who already have the highest power concerning the true body of Christ, namely priests.²

² Cf. St. Thomas, a. 11, ad 1; and IV Sent., d. 7, q. 3, a. 1, qc. 3; Billuart, art. 7, obj. 2; Billot, o.c. th. 36; Hugon, Tract. Dogm. III, on Confirmation, a. 5. - De Smet proposes another opinion, o.c. n. 401.